Finding the Way Home
by EternalRandomChick
Summary: A young girl Aria is raped and murdered while buying her sister time to escape. Because of the rape and murder, her soul is in turmoil, she becomes Melody, the Guardian of Music, until she can find peace. But her experience also draws Pitch's attention. Will she be able to settle her soul and move on, or will she stay trapped in torment for all of time?
1. Prologue: The End

_A/N: I have no idea what I'm doing, putting up a multi-chapter fanfic when I have so much schoolwork that needs to be done. Oh, well, none of us are truly sane, I guess I'm just more insane than the rest. Anyway, **WARNING!** This chapter contains a mild rape scene. I tried to make it as non-descriptive as possible, but still, a word of warning. This chapter, in my perspective, is a very high _"T"_ rating. Enjoy!_

_Oh, before I forget_

**Disclaimer: I do not own Rise of the Guardians, or any song or piece that my character might sing or play, unless I indicate otherwise that it is a song or piece which I did write (though that is unlikely). If I did own Rise of the Guardians, I wouldn't be writing this, I'd be in my office at the studio, thinking of new ideas.**

* * *

Prologue: The End

Everything ended when Mom and Dad died.

It had started out as an ordinary day. Mom and Dad had left in order to go get things for my upcoming eighteenth birthday, leaving me in charge of my twelve-year-old sister Laurel for the rest of the afternoon. Even though they didn't return by the time they said that they would, we didn't worry; after all, it was my coming-of-age birthday, and I had heard through the grapevine that they had a big to-do planned, and with my birthday only in a week, I figured they might end up needing more time than they allotted themselves in order to get everything they needed.

However when nightfall came and they weren't home yet, Laurel and I began to worry. See, we live in a big, Victorian-style house. The ceilings are extremely high, the rooms are spaced pretty far apart from each other (Laurel has to walk down a staircase and down a dark corridor about five feet to get to my room if she has a nightmare!), and there's a labyrinth of stairs and secret passageways (There's a passage to the cellar in my room, and there's a door to outside from the cellar).And let's not forget to mention that the house creaks whenever the wind blows. So yeah, being alone at night in such a big place was kind of creepy. And it didn't help that we hadn't had one call from either Mom or Dad.

"What if they don't come back?" Laurel asked me, her voice wavering.

I bent down and hugged her, but before I could answer her, reassure her, that there was no way Mom and Dad _wouldn't_ come back, the doorbell rang, scaring both of us nearly half to death.

When I looked through the peephole, I was shocked to see the flashing blue lights of a police car. I opened the door and became very scared because he held his hat in his hands. I gulped. That was never a good sign.

"Is this the home of Miss Aria and Miss Laurel Howland?" the officer asked me.

"It is." I responded. "I'm Aria. Please, sir, come in."

The officer, who introduced himself as Officer Daniel Stone, came in, and I told him to make himself at home. He sat down at our dining table. "You both might want to sit down for this," he informed us. We did so. When he looked up at us, we were shocked to see that he had a look of utmost sympathy in his eyes. "Miss Aria, Miss Laurel, it is my deepest regret to inform you that your parents were involved in an accident on the highway an hour ago. The car coming from the other direction swerved over the line and hit them head on."

Both of us gasped. "Are they going to be alright?"

His only answer was to bow his head, and I realized the full implications of his news. "No." I breathed.

Laurel hugged me in comfort, but I had become numb to everything around me. Our parents were dead, and I was still underage. I wondered what would happen to us. Would the law force us to go into an orphanage until I was a legal adult and could become my sister's designated legal guardian?

The next few days passed by in a blur. I had to skip on my fencing class and music lessons in order to be present at the courts. All I really remember from those days is the courts deciding that, since I was going to be legal in less than a week, I could go ahead and take the house, which my parents had left for me in their will, and take my sister under my wing, provided that Officer Stone be allowed to check in on us three times a day until my eighteenth birthday.

* * *

"Aria," Laurel called to her older sister five days after their parents died. "I'm scared. Something in the air doesn't feel right." It was nighttime currently, and even though Laurel was often scared at night, she was right. There was a sense of foreboding in the air.

Aria smiled sympathetically, bent down to her little sister, and hugged her. "There's nothing to fear, little one. I'm right here. You have nothing to fear, my swords upstairs are testament of that." The two sisters shared a small laugh. "I'll protect you, and you know that the Guardians will as well."

"Can you show me the stars of the Guardians again?" Laurel asked.

Aria took Laurel by the hand and led the little girl to the window in Aria's third-floor fencing practice room. "The five stars there," Aria pointed to the cluster located closest to the moon, "represent the five Guardians." She pointed to each star as she named each Guardian. "There's the Sandman, Guardian of Dreams; North, or Santa Claus, the Guardian of Wonder; the Easter Bunny, Guardian of Hope; the Tooth Fairy, Guardian of Memory, and.."

"Jack Frost, Guardian of Fun!" Laurel burst in, excitedly.

Aria gave a small laugh. "Exactly. And the Man in the Moon is the one who chose them to be Guardians." Once again, she bent down to her sister's level and looked the twelve-year-old in the eye. "Believe in them, and they'll protect you."

"But what about you?" Laurel asked. "They're able to protect you, too, aren't they?"

"Oh, sweetie," Aria breathed. "They'll only be able to protect me until midnight tomorrow. On my eighteenth birthday, I have to grow up, and the Guardians are only Guardians of Childhood, and I'm going to be an adult."

Laurel started to cry. "I don't want you to grow up!" she wailed.

"I don't want to, either," Aria whispered. "I guess I'm sort of like Peter Pan in that I am reluctant to grow up. But the streams of time wait for no one, so even though I wish I could remain a child forever, I must enter into the chaotic world of adults. And eventually, you must, too."

Laurel looked horrified that she would have to grow up. "It's still a ways off for you, but it is still in the not too distant future."

The little girl nodded in understanding, but she still looked scared. "Can- can you sing me the lullaby again?"

Aria smiled and began to sing.

_Baby Mine, don't you cry.  
Baby Mine, dry your eye.  
Rest your head close to my heart,  
Never depart, baby of mine._

_Little one, when you play,  
Don't you mind what they say.  
Let those eyes sparkle and shine,  
Never a tear, baby of mine._

_If they knew sweet little you  
They'd end up loving you too.  
All those same people who scold you,  
What they'd give just for the right to hold you!_

_From your head to your toes,  
You're so sweet, goodness knows.  
You're so precious to me, sweet as can be,  
Baby of mine._

_Baby Mine, don't you cry.  
Baby Mine, dry your eye.  
Rest your head close to my heart,  
Never depart, baby of mine._

_Baby Mine._

By the end of the song, Laurel's had wrapped her arms around her older sister's neck and tears were streaming down her cheeks. "I love you, Aria." She whispered.

Aria was about to respond "I love you, too," but just as she opened her mouth, the doorbell rang.

"Is that Officer Stone again?" Aria asked. Both were a little surprised, since the policeman had only left for the night about an hour before Laurel had come to her sister. "Laurel, I trust you, can you get the door?"

"Sure." Laurel said.

Aria heard muffled chit-chat coming from downstairs later. The visitors must have been from somewhere in the neighborhood, because they said that they had heard singing and wanted to make a request. Suddenly, the sound of Laurel struggling and panicking came from the first floor. Aria gasped, grabbed one of her spare swords from the wall and ran downstairs.

Two men were advancing on Laurel, their hands eagerly reaching for her chest. The little girl was backed up against the wall, and the men were too close to her for her to run.

Aria screamed in rage and swiped her sword through the air. The men were startled into backing up, and Aria took a defensive stance in front of her sister. "Stay away from her!" she shouted.

The men were taken off guard, but they recovered quickly. "Well, aren't you a piece of art?" he said. Aria blanched slightly at the lust in his voice. "We might have to have both of you sing for us… youngest first, of course."

Aria lashed out. She kicked the taller one where it hurts before whacking him upside the head with the butt of her sword, effectively knocking him out. The shorter one was in shock, so Aria was able to administer the same treatment to him.

"Come on, Laurel!"

Laurel quickly followed Aria down to Aria's room, all the while freaking out. "Aria, what's happening? What do those men want?!"

"You're not yet old enough to know, and definitely too young to engage in what they want with you." Aria explained as she ran. When they were in the elder girl's room, Aria pulled the rug out of its place, revealing the trapdoor to the passage that led to the basement. She pulled the door open and then turned to face her beloved sister.

"Laurel, you need to listen carefully to my instructions. Go out through the basement, run down to the Newels, and use their phone to call Officer Stone. Tell him that two men have broken into our house and follow whatever instructions he gives, unless he tells you to go back home. Make sure that you stay out of sight of the house until he arrives."

"What about you, what are you going to do?" Laurel fretted. "You're coming with me aren't you?"

Aria shook her head. "I didn't hit them that hard. It was enough to stun them, but they'll be waking up any minute, and I need to hold them off to buy you time." Laurel was on the verge of a panic attack, so Aria knelt down and gripped her sister's shoulders. "Laurie, I need you to believe in me and the Guardians." The older girl planted a kiss on her sister's forehead and then handed the girl a flashlight. "You don't have much time. Go."

Laurel nodded, took the flashlight proffered by her sister, and jumped down into the passage. Aria closed the door and replaced the rug. She went to the window and watched as her sister disappeared into the night.

Aria gazed up at the moon and the stars of the Guardians. "Watch over her." She whispered. "I know that I still count as a child, but please protect her no matter what might happen to me."

_I pray you'll be my eyes  
And watch her where she goes  
And help her to be wise  
In times when she won't know._

_Lead her to a place  
Guide her with your grace.  
Give her faith so she'll be safe._

The men burst into her room as soon as Aria finished her song. She whirled around, sword at the ready.

"Where'd the little one go?" one of them demanded to know.

Aria moved into her fighting stance. "If you want her, you'll have to go through me. Be forewarned though: I'm the best in my fencing class, even with a few days absence due to my parents' deaths."

The taller one grinned. "So, you're an orphan. Perfect; now there's no risk of anyone intruding." He pulled out a stun gun and shot her before Aria even had the chance to attack. The girl fell unconscious, her sword falling out of her hand and clattering against the hardwood floor.

When she came to a minute later, she realized that she was lying on her back on her bed, her hands were bound underneath her, and her clothes had been slashed through. They hadn't yet been removed, but it wouldn't be hard for someone to remove them. Aria could also feel a single strip of duct tape on her skin beneath her shirt, keeping her trapped where she lay. She heard movement in the corner and turned her head to see the two men standing there, just watching her.

"A stun gun." Aria hissed. "I call hax."

"Hax or not," the taller one purred, "you're exactly where we want you right now. After hearing that, we know that you're the singer in your family. Perhaps you wouldn't mind singing a different tune for us now." He pulled a roll of duct tape from somewhere at his side. "It involves this."

Aria attempted to struggle and free herself, but all her efforts were futile as the man finally tore off a smaller strip of duct tape and secured it over her mouth. She attempted to scream, but the muffled sounds only served to turn the men on. "Oh, relax," the short one laughed. "We're just gonna have some fun."

The men proceeded to rip off the shreds of her clothes and toy with her. She attempted to squirm away from their hands, but her bonds were firm. So when the shorter man began to move to the next stage, she felt resigned to her horrible fate. She nearly passed out from the agony as both of them took turns violating her. The torture went on for what felt like hours (but it was really less than even a single hour) until, finally, they stopped.

Aria began to breathe sighs of relief through the gag, but suddenly, she heard a gun, an actual gun this time, being cocked, and she froze.

"Just so you won't rat us out to the police." The taller one said as he pressed the gun to the girl's temple.

A gunshot rang through the night, and then all was silent.

* * *

Laurel had not stopped running since she had escaped the house. The Newels lived closest to the sisters, but they still lived at least two miles away, and a mile alone was enough to wear the girl out.

"Come on, you can't give up now!" a young man's voice rang out just as she began to slow down. "Your sister's counting on you!"

"Need me to tunnel you out?" An Australian voice asked.

Laurel was startled into stopping when she realized that she wasn't alone. Five very familiar figures from her sister's stories were accompanying her. "The Guardians!" Laurel gasped. "Please, one of you go back and help Aria, please!"

"We can't." North told her sadly. "Your sister asked that we protect you no matter what happens to her."

Laurel was about to protest, but the sound of a gunshot permeated the night air, and it came from the direction of her house! She gasped in horror and whirled around towards the direction she came from, but there was silence all around her, even from her supernatural companions.

"Aria!" Laurel screamed in horror. But she felt an emptiness in her heart and she knew that her sister was gone. She sank to the ground and wept.

* * *

_A/N: The songs in this chapter are _"Baby Mine" _from _Dumbo_ (one of the saddest Disney songs in the world!) and a very abbreviated version of Celine Dion's _"The Prayer" _featured in _Quest for Camelot_. I hope you enjoyed this, and I'll have the next chapter up as soon as I've written it. Oh, and by the way, "hax" is just another way of saying "cheap shot."_


	2. Chapter 1: The Awakening

_A/N: I got the second chapter done a lot faster than anticipated! I am impressed with myself! This chapter isn't really plot-heavy, but I do need to introduce my character as who she's going to be known as, at least by the other Guardians, for the rest of the story._

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything other than the laptop I used to write this. _Rise of the Guardians_ and all music that Melody sings or plays belong to their original owners. **_  
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* * *

Chapter 1: The Awakening

She awoke to an ache in her head. She drew herself into a sitting position and brought her hand up, momentarily startled by the action, since one of the last things she remember was that she had been bound. But the ache in her head soon dominated her thoughts. There was a small lump of scar tissue, and she could remember something being pressed to her temple, but that memory was still somewhat blurry.

She allowed her hand to travel down over her face and sucked in a shocked breath when she felt her own lips, since another of the last things she remembered was her mouth being secured shut in preparation for torture of the vilest sort.

When she looked down, she gasped again. She vaguely remembered that she had been violated, but she knew that the men had left her body uncovered. Now she was clothed in a flowing dress made of fine white silk and covered by another, thinner layer of the same material. The skirt cut off just above the knees with two tresses of the thin silk hanging off of the sides, but the sleeves were long and they hung down from her wrists. She also noticed that she was barefooted.

She stood up and walked to a mirror on the wall so that she could examine herself properly. Along with the dress, a forest green cloak was draped about her shoulders. She felt a slight relief go through her when she saw that a violin was strapped to her back, and its bow hung like a sword at her side. She had never counted herself as truly beautiful, but looking at herself now, she thought that she looked like a woodland sprite.

A shaft of moonlight entered through the window, and she found herself drawn to it. "_Melody."_ It called to her.

_Melody._ A name that was completely unfamiliar to her, yet it was also a name that she knew like the back of her own hand, for she instinctively knew that it was hers.

When she reached the window, the beam intensified and memories came rushing back. She gasped, overwhelmed, at the images and sounds that invaded her mind. She heard her own muffled screams and sobs through the tape over her mouth, felt the agony again as the men violated her, and saw the taller of the two men smirk as he pulled the trigger of his gun, allowing his bullet to tear its way through her skull.

But most of all, she remembered Laurel.

She remembered comforting her sister when she was scared or sad, playing or laughing with Laurel during outings in the park… And she remembered that she had helped Laurel escape just before the nightmare began.

And so she wept. Wept for her innocence, so brutally ripped from her; for her life, so mercilessly ended; but most of all, she wept out of anxiety, anxiety for her sister. Had Laurel made it to safety?

But suddenly, the moon wiped her tears away. _"Dry your tears, Melody, my child."_

Melody nodded grimly. She pulled her violin onto her shoulder and began to play. She remembered that the name of the piece was "Transcendence," a piece she felt was appropriate, for she knew she had to rise up from the ashes of the trauma which she had just experienced.

The new spirit was almost startled into stopping when she saw that she was dancing among the rooftops, carried by the very notes she was weaving out of the instrument. When she finished playing, she alighted on one of the rooftops. She had no idea where she was or how far from her home she had come, but at the moment she didn't care. She sat down, drew one of her knees up and wrapped her cloak around herself. Melody knew that the moon had told her not to weep, but she couldn't help but let the tears flow from her eyes.

* * *

After they had made sure Laurel was safe with the police officer, the Guardians regrouped up at North's workshop. Even though they had done their job and made sure that no harm came to the child, they still felt horrible that Laurel had lost her last family member.

"I feel so bad for her," Jack said. He was leaning on his staff and looking down. All the other Guardians shared his sentiment, and they knew that Laurel's scream would haunt them for a long time to come.

"We did everything we could while respecting Aria's wishes." Tooth tried to comfort him. "But still, you're right. Aria was still a child, and yet we could do nothing only because she had asked us to protect Laurel no matter what happened."

"You're not really helping, Shelia." Bunny said. The Guardian of Hope didn't look very hopeful; he looked as weary and depressed as the rest of them.

North was about to make some sort of comment, but Sandy burst in suddenly, pointing madly towards the window. The five looked in awe as the Man in the Moon summoned up the crystal, indicating that he had chosen a sixth Guardian.

"Another Guardian?" North asked. "This soon after battle with Pitch?"

"Who is it this time?!" Tooth gasped. The other four rolled their eyes half-heartedly, since they all knew that Tooth was going to be excited no matter who it was.

The mist and moonlight swirled up from the crystal taking the form of a young girl playing a violin. She had long hair, a seemingly fair complexion, and was dressed like some sort of fairy creature. Her eyes were closed and she was just in the act of drawing out the last note of a violin piece.

"_Melody,"_ came the voice of the Man in the Moon.

"YES!" Tooth cheered. "I'm not the only female Guardian anymore!"

"She must be new immortal." North interjected. Sandy formed the image of someone with a walking stick. Bunny interpreted this to mean, "Or maybe she's a wanderer." Sandy nodded eagerly, showing Bunny that the Guardian of Hope had correctly guessed what the Guardian of Dreams was thinking.

"I've never heard of her before," Tooth said. "And, North, I think she would have come under your radar as well, and, judging from the looks on all your faces, this is the first time all of you have heard of her."

"Well, new immortal or not, she's a Guardian now." Jack said. "And we should probably figure out a way to bring her here… and definitely NOT giving her the same 'escort' I was given. We're going to need her to trust us, and shoving her in a sack is going to do exactly the opposite, especially if she's a new immortal."

"Well, then, why don't _you_ go and talk to 'er, mate?" Bunny retorted. "Since you're the most recent, well, _second_ most recent to join our ranks, she might be willing to talk to you. Besides, you out of all of us know what it's like to be invisible, so you might be able to convince 'er."

"Thank you very much for bringing up painful memories." Jack muttered, which prompted both Tooth and Sandy to glare at Bunnymund. "But, why not? I will go." Jack committed himself to the task. "Maybe she'll be convinced with a snowball fight."

* * *

_A/N: Thank you for reading. Melody plays _"Transcendence" _by Lindsey Stirling. Go look the song up online, I wish I had half that violinist's talent!__  
_


	3. Chapter 2: First Encounters

_A/N: To those lost a week ago at the Sandy Hook shooting, rest in peace. The nations greives for you, and will honor your memories. To the families of lost ones, I offer these words of consolation: it is only a temporary goodbye; we will see loved ones again on the other side. I leave you with these wise words from the wizard Gandalf: "I will not say 'Do not weep,' for not all tears are an evil."_

_On a slightly happier note, I am now on Christmas break, but I don't know how soon I will be able to update. My grandfather, who lives in Alabama, is dying, so my family and I might try to squeeze in one last visit before the end, and if we do, I won't have internet access. Rest assured, I will update as soon as I possibly can. _

_By the way, to everyone who's added me or my story to their favorites or follows list, I appreciate it, I really do. However, I would love it even more if you would leave me a review and tell me why you liked my story. I'm always seeking to improve myself as a writer, and reviews help me do that; I know what the readers loved, and I know to stop doing something that the readers don't exactly like. So, please leave some reviews. Thank you._

**Disclaimer: I do not own Rise of the Guardians or any piece of music that Melody plays or sings. **_  
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* * *

Chapter 2: First Encounters

Shadows twisted their way through the night, taking on the forms of black horses with glowing yellow eyes. These creatures found the young spirit, who was currently weeping as she slept, and swarmed around her. Her trauma and weakness was a feast for them! She began to thrash and cry out as images flashed on her closed eyelids. She saw the men again, but instead of herself being the victim, Laurel was the one they were violating. Melody's dream self shrieked and tried to reach her sister, but the closer she got to Laurel and her tormenters, the farther away they got.

Finally, after a great level of effort, the real Melody managed to rip her eyes open. Panting, she sat up abruptly, looked around wildly, rubbed her arms, and drew her knees to her chest; the standard post-nightmare motions. More sobs ran through her body and she looked out over the town. "Laurel," she whispered, "wherever you are, I hope you're safe."

The horses had fled when the immortal woke up; but what Melody didn't know at first, was that they were merely a preview. When they left, they went to go summon their master. And he came, rising up out of the shadows, riding on the back of one of the Nightmares. He glanced around, and his eyes glinted maliciously when they fell on the shaking girl.

"What a poor, precious little girl!" Pitch Black purred. "Such trauma, such fear. It's marvelous!" He slid off the back of the Nightmare, landed on the rooftop, and walked until he was positioned just behind the new immortal. "I really must thank you," he said. "With the fear you give off, you've given both me and my Nightmares strength enough to reform and challenge the Guardians."

"Oh, buzz off, would you?" Melody demanded without even looking up. "Creeper," she muttered.

Her sudden outburst, if it could be called that, startled Pitch into stumbling back. "You can hear me?" he asked.

"Duh," Melody groaned as she turned around, and Pitch was momentarily shocked by the amount of anguish in her eyes. "You're the only one up here who's talking about fear, nightmares, and challenging the Guardians. In fact, you're the only one up here right now besides me. For your information, I would like to be alone, so please leave." She turned back and buried her head in her knees, but Pitch stayed.

He knew that he had never seen her before, knew that she had only very recently entered the world of immortals. And he also knew that her agony would give him even more power than he had ever had before. "Miss," he began, placing a hand on her shoulder.

Melody swatted him away. "Don't touch me!" she hissed. Pitch opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off. "I don't want to have to ask you again; leave me alone!"

The Bogeyman paused, unsure of exactly how to react. Clearly, he could not influence her directly, but he would merely bide his time, and soon, she would come crawling to him for help. "Very well, my dear. I'm sure I'll see you soon, I'm sure, but allow me to give you a little reminder of our meeting."

"I'm not scared of you, whoever you are," the music spirit whispered as she dried her tears, stood up, and faced Pitch.

"But you are afraid of something. And before you ask, I always know what anyone is afraid of." The malevolent being sprang forward and grabbed Melody's hand. The young immortal screamed as dark energy flowed through her, aggravating injuries that had been inflicted in a previous life. The Bogeyman looked down at his handiwork and grinned. "You're afraid that that will happen to you again." He let her go and gave her a mocking bow. "Until we meet again, madam."

Melody had fallen back when the dark spirit released her hand. Her whole body ached from whatever had just been done to her. She reached back and pulled her violin and bow in front of her, checking them over for any sort of damage. A relieved smile crossed the spirit's face when she saw that neither had been harmed. Pain shot through her arms as she stood up and returned her violin to its proper resting spot, and she groaned. It wouldn't hurt to see the extent of her injuries, she figured, so she pulled back her sleeve.

Dark bruises decorated her arms. Melody felt fresh tears come to her eyes when she saw that the bruises were in the shape of handprints, and she knew that more of these bruises covered her body. Instinct told her that these bruises were the physical remnants of the events leading up to her transformation into the spirit of music. She curled even further in on herself and once again wept.

* * *

The Guardian of Fun rode the wind, and by now, he was getting a little frustrated. He was currently in Williamsburg Virginia, and he had been searching what felt like nearly all of North America, where the spirit had last been seen, and he still had no idea where she might be. He was just about ready to give up on North America and move on to South America, when a sobbing sound reached his ears and he turned.

Jack let out a sigh of relief when he saw that the crying sound came from the very spirit he was looking for. However, he had not been expecting her to look like this. At first glance, she seemed to be the very embodiment of suffering, not a Guardian of Childhood. However, there was no mistaking that this was the spirit that the Man in the Moon had chosen as the newest Guardian. The winter spirit took a deep breath. _"Here goes nothing,"_ he thought.

He landed on the roof and walked up to the weeping immortal. "Excuse me-" he began.

"How many times am I going to have to say this tonight? Leave me alone!" the girl shouted, not even bothering to raise her head and look at him.

Jack patiently took a deep breath, even though he knew that now it was going to be even harder to get her to talk to him. "Melody, I know that this is going to be a hard thing for you to do right now, but my friends and I need to talk to you."

"Well, then, why don't you bring them here to talk?" Melody retorted, still keeping her head down. "What makes you think I'll go anywhere with you, and on top of everything, how do you know my name?!"

This was _not_ turning out well, Jack realized. _"Time for 'Plan B',"_ he thought. Momentarily turning his back to the young music spirit, he created a snowball and infused it with his magic. With a deceptively soft smile, he turned back to Melody and held the snowball out to her. "Hey," he whispered gently, "you want to have some fun?"

Her reaction was the last thing that Jack had been expecting. She snarled and sprang up with a speed and agility that Jack though only he and maybe a few other spirits possessed. Now, instead of looking at a weary, anguished, young immortal, Jack now found himself facing a very powerful, very intimidating, and very, _very_ ticked off music spirit.

Melody drew her bow across the strings of her violin, causing a very dissonant chord to sound. Tangible strains of music flew through the air and struck Jack in the forehead. The winter spirit stumbled back, gripping his staff for support. The force of the attack had caused him to drop the snowball, and he used his now-free hand to clutch at his head where the attack had struck. "Ow!" he exclaimed. "What's wrong with-? All I asked was if you wanted to have some fun!"

"And that's what the men said to me shortly before _this_ happened!" the music spirit shouted back, gesturing to herself when she said "_this_."

Jack's eyes widened with realization. "You mean you remem-"

"Go AWAY!" Melody shrieked, striking another chord.

The Guardian of Fun managed to dodge this attack, but now he was more than eager to get out of there as fast as possible. Once again calling upon the wind, Jack flew back to North's workshop as fast as he could with his head injury.

* * *

The other four were surprised to see him return alone, holding a frosted hand to his head. Sandy formed a question mark above his head, asking what happened.

"I am NOT going near her again for a LONG time." Jack firmly declared. "She's volatile – extremely so. All I asked was if she wanted to have some fun and she attacked me." He moved his frosted hand away and showed them the red mark on his head for emphasis, causing the other Guardians to cringe in sympathy. "However, I _did_ discover something interesting: She remembers things from her previous life."

The Guardians all gasped, and the other boys immediately began to talk about the ramifications and possiblilites of a new immortal having all the memories from their past life. Tooth, however, flew over to Jack and started to help him nurse the wound. "Tooth, I'm fine." Jack insisted. "I was only caught off-guard; this'll fade in a little while."

Sandy suddenly separated from the group and glided out the door. "Where's Sandy going?" Tooth asked.

"He's going to see if he can convince the music spirit to trust us." Bunny explained.

"Good luck." Jack muttered. "He's going to need it."

* * *

_A/N: I usually do that chord sound when someone makes me really angry when I'm practicing. It really helps with misplaced aggression. Anyway, thank you, my readers for being patient with me until I uploaded this chapter._


	4. Chapter 3: Revelations

_A/N: O__kay, as of yesterday, I have seen _Rise of the Guardians_ five times in theaters. **FIVE TIMES!** If that's not obsession with this movie, then I don't know what is is. I would have uploaded yesterday, but the circuit for the front of my house got tripped, and the living room (which is in the front of my house) is where the plug-in for the Internet is, so I didn't have access. Anyway, here's chapter 3. Oh, when you read the last section of this chapter, you might want to have a tissue box nearby._

**Disclaimer: I am a teenage girl. Do you think I could own Rise of the Guardians? No, I didn't think so. Now, I admittedly might be Lindsey Stirling, but unfortunately, I'm not.**_  
_

* * *

Chapter 3: Revelations

After her fury had faded, Melody sat back down. Both experiences tonight had left her exhausted, and though she knew that, as a spirit, sleep was no longer a necessity for her, she now wanted nothing more than to close her eyes and momentarily forget her troubles. But as soon as she gave into the embrace of sleep, black sand twisted up from the shadows and formed a cage around her body. More images of Laurel being the victim of those men and Melody herself unable to do anything swam in front of her eyelids.

More than once did the young spirit cry out in her sleep; begging these pictures to cease. But now, instead of having to force her eyes open, a sudden wave of calm swept over her, and the dark images were replaced with fond memories: of dancing with her sister; enjoying a romp with their recently deceased dog, Alkabink; singing her sister to sleep with their lullaby. A sentimental smile crossed Melody's face, and more than one tear of memory trickled down her cheek.

The Sandman gave a small smile as he watched the new immortal. When he had first seen her, he had been horrified to see that a cage of nightmare sand was surrounding her, and dark images forming above her head. He was more than thankful that a wave of dreamsand was able to remedy both of the problems. He hadn't meant to make her cry, but he was grateful for the smile that graced her features. When smiling, she looked like some of the burden and suffering had been lifted off her shoulders.

For the rest of the night, the Guardian of Dreams kept watch over young Melody, making sure that no more nightmares disturbed her.

* * *

When the music spirit awoke, she was slightly startled by her nighttime guardian, but when Sandman gave her a small, friendly smile, she visibly relaxed.

"You're the Sandman, aren't you?" she asked. The little man eagerly nodded and his smile widened. Melody immediately smiled back, stood up, and went to shake his hand. "Well, I know that I have nothing to fear from you."

Sandy frowned slightly at that and images started forming over his head at an alarming rate.

Melody gave a small, humorless laugh. "You do know that I have absolutely no idea what you're trying to say, right?"

Sandy took a deep breath, calmed himself, and then started forming the images again. First up was a question mark.

"What?" Melody guessed. The Sandman shook his head "no," and formed the question mark again. "Why?" was Melody's second guess. This time, Sandman nodded. He pointed at Melody, and she guessed correctly that he was asking why she did something.

The next image was of two swords, one viciously beating down the other. "Fight?"

Sandman shrugged _"Close enough,"_ he thought. His last image was of Jack's staff and a snowflake.

This image cemented in Melody's mind exactly what Sandy was trying to say. "Why did I attack Jack Frost?" she interpreted, a look of horror coming onto her face.

Sandy nodded, his features taking on a look of polite curiosity.

Melody grimaced. "Well, I didn't know that it was him." She explained. "I didn't really look up until he asked me if I wanted to have fun, which was when I attacked. " She hugged herself, in a seeming attempt to either hide or warm herself. "The last time someone told me we would have fun, the events that followed were not exactly fun for me, and I thought it was going to happen again when he asked if I wanted to have fun. After that, all I could really see was red, I was so angry." She sighed. "Now I feel even more horrible about that."

The Guardian of Dreams walked forward and patted her arm soothingly. Melody looked at him and smiled sadly. "I suppose you want me to come with you and talk to the rest of the Big Five, huh?"

Again, Sandy nodded. Melody's face took on a determined look, and she brought her violin up to her shoulder. "I guess it wouldn't hurt just to talk," she said.

The Sandman smiled and created his plane out of dreamsand while Melody once again began playing "Transcendence." The oldest Guardian was feeling quite pleased with himself, and momentarily, he began laughing to himself, imagining Jack's reaction when Melody entered North's workshop.

* * *

"So this is the famous workshop?" Melody asked when they arrived at the North Pole. "Doesn't exactly look how I expected it to look, but then again, I don't know exactly what I was expecting." Sandy shook slightly with silent laughter and led her to the globe room. Melody was entranced by the sight of the yetis manufacturing the toys instead of elves, as she (and the rest of the world!) had been led to believe.

When they entered the globe room, Melody did not fail to notice the impressed looks on most of the Guardians faces, and she also noticed how Jack Frost shied away from her, nervously clutching his staff. Melody bit her lip, and made a mental note to apologize to him as soon as the meeting was over.

"Ah, there she is!" North laughed. "Melody, wonderful to meet you."

"Uh, same." Melody stammered, looking to North. She gave a short, dry chuckle. "I don't know whether to be honored, or terrified. I've been a spirit for a little over twenty-four hours, and already I've caught the attention of the Big Five."

"So you are a new spirit," the tooth fairy confirmed. Melody nodded in her direction, and the usually energetic fairy was wise enough to keep her distance.

"So why did you all want to talk to me?" Melody asked. "Or did you all simply want to meet me and make sure my transition to this plane of existence was smooth?"

"Ah, straight to the point, I see!" North bellowed, startling Melody. Sandy gently placed an encouraging hand on the new immortal's arm and she sent a small smile his way before stepping forward to the center of the room.

"Melody, you were chosen last night." Tooth informed the music spirit.

"Chosen?" Melody asked, "You mean-" she gasped as realization hit her. "No." She ran her hand through her hair, and given the anguish in her eyes, this was an attempt to banish bad memories from her mind. "I'm no Guardian."

"Yeah, that's what the frostbite 'ere said." Bunny informed her, giving Jack a playful nudge. "Look how that turned out."

Melody groaned. "Look at me!" she said, spreading her arms wide for effect. Nearly all five Guardians had to stifle gasps at the torment reflected in her eyes, and the fact that some of her bruises were faintly visible through the fine material of her dress. "Children are lighthearted, carefree beings. As you can probably tell, I have a great burden of memories on my heart. I am the exact opposite of the essence of childhood. So tell me: how, then, could I be a Guardian _of_ Childhood?"

"Man in Moon chose you, Melody," North informed her. "There must have been some sacrifice you made in your past life, one that caused Manny to choose you as new Guardian."

"Sacrifice?" Melody seemed confused, but then understanding dawned on her face. "Laurel!" she gasped.

The Big Five had NOT been expecting that! Did she mean-? But she couldn't possibly! Was it possible, however unlikely, that the "Laurel" that Melody mentioned was also the same Laurel that they had been asked to protect no matter what happened to her older sister Aria?

"Melody," Tooth asked, "do you mean Laurel Howland?"

Melody nodded vigorously. "Yes! Laurel Howland, my sister, is she safe?"

The Guardians were all stunned into silence by that one word. _Sister_. So Melody had not just been good friends with Aria before Aria had been killed, but she had in fact been Aria herself!

"You- you were Aria?" North asked, sounding as shocked and horrified as the rest of them felt.

"Yes, I was." Melody declared, sounding extremely exasperated. "Now, please tell me, _is Laurel safe_?" When she didn't receive a response, due to the state of deep shock that all five Guardians were in, she begged, "_Please_ tell me that the men didn't find her!"

"We didn't see anyone else until we got her to that policeman's house." Jack told her.

Melody began laughing with relief. "She's safe." She repeated those words for a few seconds, as though she was a drowning woman and that statement was her lifeline. "Then I have to see her, right now!"

"I – uh. I'll take you to her, or to where she's headed." Bunny offered. "But you might not like what you'll find."

"I don't care," Melody declared firmly. "As long as I can see with my own eyes that she's safe."

Bunny hopped over the young spirit. "Then you might wanna buckle up." And with that, he thumped his foot twice. The floor opened up into a hole and both Bunny and Melody jumped in.

* * *

The tunnel opened up at the entrance to a graveyard. For Bunny's sake, they were in the bushes, but it was clear where they were. The sun was going down, casting a quiet glow on the graves.

"A graveyard?" Melody asked. "This seems like a pretty morbid place, especially for you as the Guardian of Hope."

A young girl, dressed entirely in black passed by the spirits' hiding place. Melody gasped when she recognized the girl's face.

"Laurel!" she cried, ecstatic. Completely ignoring Bunny's protests, the music sprite abandoned their hiding place and ran to intercept her sister. Or, at least she attempted to intercept her sister. When Melody would have thrown her arms around Laurel, the new immortal passed right through the mortal girl. Bunny winced at Melody's horrified shriek.

Several more times did Melody try to make herself visible and tangible to her sister, but each time failed. After a while, gave up and watched Laurel continue her journey to the center of the graveyard.

The tombstone there was more elaborately carved than those surrounding it, two of which were of the parents. The plaque to this tombstone read:

_Aria Howland  
19 April 1996 – 17 April 2013  
Beloved Daughter, Sister, Friend,  
and Guardian  
Rest in Peace_

"Hey, Aria." Laurel whispered as she knelt in the grass. "I'm back. I know the funeral was only earlier today, but I-" she broke off sobbing. "I miss you so much!"

"Laurel -" Melody couldn't choke back a sob of her own as she tried yet again to reach out to her sister, but yet again, her arm passed through Laurel's small body.

"You would have thought it was a nice funeral." Laurel continued. "Officer Stone and the rest of the police force formed an honor guard for your coffin as it was brought to the final resting spot." She stroked the stone and gave a dry smile. "I asked that 'Guardian' be put on your tombstone. I know that the real Guardians made sure that those men never found me, but you were the one who got me out of the house. So I think of you as the real hero of that night." She stood up as she finished saying her goodbye. "Thank you, Aria. Oh, and don't worry about me too much. Officer Stone is looking after me until a foster home or adoptive family is found for me. I love you, big sis." And with that, she turned around and left.

Bunny took this chance to hop over to Melody. The young spirit was hugging herself, as if she was trying to convince herself that she was real. Horrified tears formed rivers down her cheeks. "Why?" she whispered, openly sobbing now. "Why can't she see me?"

"She doesn't know about you." Bunny tried to console her.

"You win." Melody declared. She stood and turned. Bunny was shocked that determination had joined the horror in her eyes. "I'll play this game with you, and the rest of the Guardians. What needs to be done?"

* * *

_A/N: I warned you. I thought it would be fitting, and maybe slightly ironic, to have "Guardian" on Aria's tombstone. Anyway, see you guys as soon as I have the next chapter written._


	5. Chapter 4: Regrouping

_A/N: HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE! New year, new beginnings, and a new chapter for you! I'm sorry that this chapter might be a little short, my family's about to go see _The Hobbit_, so I wanted to get this chapter done quickly. This chapter title might be a little bit inappropriate for the chapter content, but I couldn't really think of anything better. _

* * *

Chapter 4: Regrouping

Even by the time she and Bunny made it back to the North Pole, the horror at finding out she was a ghost to mortal children hadn't faded from Melody's eyes. It was a look that Jack Frost recognized instantly; a look that he himself had worn multiple times over the course of three centuries of loneliness. "She found out, didn't she?" he asked the Pooka. "About her disbelieved-in state?"

Bunny didn't say anything in response, but he nodded solemnly.

Jack took a deep breath, obviously not looking forward to having to do this, but he was the only other one who truly knew what it was like to have nobody believe in him. He stepped forward and tentatively placed his hand on Melody's shoulder. "I know this is going to sound really weak, and you probably don't want to hear this anyway, Melody, but I know exactly what you're going through right now."

"No, you don't." Melody accused, gently shrugging his hand off. She turned her head and every single bit of anguish she felt in her soul was clearly reflected in her eyes. Jack was momentarily taken aback; he had never felt such anguish even when kids walked through him. "You have absolutely no idea what I'm going through, and don't pretend like you do."

"I'm not kidding." Jack insisted as she looked away. "I was invisible for three hundred years before Jamie believed in me. And he only started believing in me about a month ago."

Melody turned her head back to him and saw nothing but honesty in his eyes, and she nodded, believing his words. At her nod, Jack visibly relaxed and even dared to send an encouraging smile her way, a smile which only widened when she smiled back.

"Listen, I'm really sorry about attacking you," she whispered to him. "I don't yet feel comfortable with talking about my reasons, but I was completely in the wrong for jumping to conclusions like I did."

Jack was startled, but not startled enough to not accept her apology. He told her that if she ever needed to talk, he and the others would be there to listen. "I understand." She told him. "I'm just not really ready to start talking about what I went through."

Jack nodded his respect for her decision before stepping away. Melody gave him one last, apologetic smile before turning to face the rest of the Guardians. "So, what are we up against, and what's our plan of action?" she asked.

North chuckled softly. "Again, straight to point." He chuckled for a few more seconds, before finally becoming serious. "The first order of business: you must take oath as Guardian."

Melody looked down now, uncomfortable. "Isn't this a little soon?" she pretended to joke. "I mean, I've only been a spirit for about a day. And you just now told me that I was chosen to join your ranks."

"The sooner the better," North responded. "And you already know your center: music, obviously." Melody pulled her violin around and simply looked at it while North continued. "And perhaps your sister would want you to take oath as soon as possible."

North figured that mentioning Laurel was going to be a low blow, but Melody remembered what she had seen on her own tombstone: _Beloved Daughter, Sister, Friend, and Guardian._ Had Laurel somehow known, very deep inside her heart, that Aria had been brought back as a spirit when the body was discovered?

Melody took a deep breath. "You're right." She conceded, surprising North. "Laurel probably would want me to take oath as soon as I could; she asked that "Guardian" be put on my tombstone. However, I don't think I'm ready just yet to take oath. But rest assured that I will take oath sometime soon."

North looked like he wanted to argue, but Tooth and Sandy stopped him. "North, we can't rush her into this; she's dealing with enough as it is," Tooth defended the youngest spirit. At this, North reluctantly nodded his consent.

"And I believe my first question went unanswered: What are we up against?" Melody asked again. "If I've heard the story correctly, you guys defeated Pitch not even a month ago. Why do you need another Guardian if the main threat has already been dealt with?" When the Guardians gave her looks that clearly asked, "_How do you know that?_" Melody responded, "What? Stories travel quickly."

"We don't know the real reason ourselves." Tooth confessed, responding to Melody's question. "Our best guess is that Pitch still has agents of his out there, and we need your help stopping them."

"Agents?"

"Men, maybe women, who terrorize communities and strike terror and horror into the hearts of everyone in the world; and I mean everyone, not just the children." Jack explained. "People like thieves, murderers, -"

"Rapists." Melody finished in a whisper. When the Big Five gave her looks of confusion, she repeated herself, louder that time. "I think I now know what you're talking about. People who cause events like the Connecticut shooting on December fourteenth?"

All five winced at the mentioning of the shooting, remembering the twenty kids that they had failed, but they remembered that there was no good in dwelling on the past. "Exactly." Bunny said. "He's definitely not the only one out there. However, there's some of 'em that are being directly influenced by Pitch, and it's these that we need to look for."

"What are the signs?" Melody asked.

"Glowing eyes, an echo in his or her voice. But the most obvious are the strands of nightmare sand attached to their shadow and that they can see us." North informed her.

"None of those really sound familiar, but I know where two possible agents might be: Williamsburg Virginia. There are at least two rapists that I know of there, and their first target was Laurel Howland." Melody informed the Big Five. "Now, I don't know about you, but I'm not going to just sit around while my sister could be in considerable danger."

There was a moment of silence, then:

"Melody is right!" North declared. "Everyone, to the sleigh!"

"Oh, no!" Bunny groaned, but no one except Melody heard him.

* * *

_A/N: Haha, I love how Bunny hates the sleigh. I had to put that last line in there just to be funny. _


	6. Chapter 5: I Can't Do This

_A/N: I am beyond hope with my obsession with _Rise of the Guardians._ Just today, I went to go see it_ **YET** **AGAIN**_! This makes it a whopping six times that I have seen that movie in theaters! At the end of this chapter, Melody just breaks down, so just a warning. Oh, by the way, if Bunny's lines seem off, I cannot write an Aussie accent to save my life. Sorry about that._

* * *

Chapter 5: "I Can't Do This."

The yetis and elves had already prepared the sleigh for departure by the time the six arrived. North had, at some point, donned his traditional furs, and was currently yelling out final orders to the yetis. But Melody barely paid any attention to these things. Her mind was completely focused on the famous sleigh. She had been expecting the sleigh to look how it was depicted in pictures in child's storybooks. So to find out that is was some sort of epic cross between a snowmobile and WWII fighter plane rendered her quite speechless and immobile.

North chuckled at the look on Melody's face. "Everyone loves the sleigh." He declared.

Jack, Tooth, and Sandy eagerly climbed in, and North took the reins. Bunny and Melody, however, remained behind. "What are you two waiting for?" North asked, his voice a mixture of laughter and impatience.

"Hey, remember, I'm new to this world!" Melody playfully scolded as she climbed in. She looked back and noticed that Bunny had not moved. "Bunny, come on!"

"Uh, I still think my tunnels are safeh." Bunny said, thumping his foot on the side of the sleigh. This caused the sleigh to rock back and forth slightly. Melody, caught by surprise and the apparent instability, gasped and grasped the edge she was closest to, and her face had taken on a green tinge, as if she was suddenly seasick.

Bunny took that as an encouragement to his case and turned away, preparing to create another of his tunnels. However, North wasn't having any of that.

"Ach! Get in!"

The Russian grabbed the Aussie Pooka by the scruff of the neck, lifted him clear off the ground, and practically threw him into the sleigh.

"Buckle up!"

Melody actually did look around before looking up in horror. "That was just an expression, wasn't it?"

"Correct!" North yelled. "Let's go!" And he snapped the reins and the sleigh shot forward.

Bunny wasn't the only one who started freaking out. Melody remembered that, when she was still mortal, she had never really been that much of a roller coaster lover, and North was driving the sleigh a little too fast for her liking. But it was when North started doing the loop-the-loops that caused her to absolutely despise travelling in the sleigh.

When they were finally flying through the air, Melody began to take some deep breaths to calm her nerves. "Melody, are you okay?" Tooth asked.

"Next time, I'm going with Bunny in the tunnels!" Melody declared vehemently. "If I wasn't already dead, that would have scared me to death!"

"Ha! North ya hear tha'!" Bunny hollered. "I ain't the only one who thinks this thing is a death sentence!"

North didn't even bother to grace that comment with a response. Instead, he drew a snow globe from deep within his robes, whispered something into it and tossed it ahead of the sleigh. A portal split the air and both Melody and Bunny shrieked when the sleigh was sucked in.

"I hate this thing!" Melody shouted, but then she gasped when she realized exactly where they were, even though it was the middle of the night. "This is Williamsburg! We're not that far from my home!"

Tooth, Jack, and Sandy instantly took to the air and split up in different directions, each combing the surrounding areas for any sign of any agents. Soon, one of Tooth's mini-fairies approached the sleigh, urgently squeaking and pointing in the direction Tooth had flown off in.

North jerked the sleigh around so violently and drove the reindeer so quickly that the other two nearly fell off. "Careful!" Bunny yelled, but everyone was ready to defeat at least some agents of Pitch Black.

North (driving the sleigh), Jack, and Sandy all met up with Tooth at the same time. She was near downtown Williamsburg, trailing the agents from the air the same way the nightmare sand followed their shadows. One of the men was significantly taller than the other, and something about this fact struck a warning chord in Melody's mind.

The two agents stopped. "We know you're there." The taller one said without even turning around. "Guardians." This word the man hissed, as though the very word was absolute poison.

North immediately landed the sleigh and both he and Bunny jumped so that they joined Jack, Sandy and Tooth in facing the agents. Bunny drew forth his boomerangs, North drew his swords, Sandy allowed his dreamsand whips to grow to their full length, and Jack's staff glowed threateningly. Melody took a deep breath and disembarked from the sleigh and began to bring her violin onto her shoulder.

The two agents then turned around to face her and Melody staggered back when she recognized both of these men, as well as the voice of the echo. These two men were the ones responsible for her transformation into the spirit of music. The voice of the echo was the voice of the first spirit she had encountered.

"I knew we'd meet again." The shorter one said. "I just didn't expect it to be this soon." The two grinned and began to advance on her.

"S-stay away from me!" Melody attempted to sound brave and threatening, but the trembling of her voice gave away her fear.

Both men grinned, and then they began to change. They grew in height until they were only a little bit shorter that Bunny. Their hair became dark and they became echoing images of the Bogeyman. "Pitch!" Jack yelled, but both copies ignored him, and continued to advance on Melody.

"I must say, it's good to see you again, my dear." The copy on the left, the one that had been the taller man, said. "I didn't really expect to see you again this soon, but no matter. I am surprised that you trusted this group of wierdos so quickly."

"I trust them a lot more than I'll ever trust you!" Melody was able to hiss.

"But have they accepted you?" the copy on the right, the shorter of the men, purred maliciously. "You know that all of them now are believed in, while you aren't, not even by your own sister." Melody's face took on a look of pure anguish as the copies rubbed salt into a still-bleeding wound. Sandy and North both started to attack, but the Pitch copies erected an impenetrable wall of black sand behind them, cutting them and Melody off from the other Guardians. "And I'd be more than willing to bet that you haven't told them about what happened to you on the night you became Melody. Do you possibly think that they'll accept you once they learn about _that_?"

Both of them grinned, leaned in so close that Melody was forced to close her eyes so that she wouldn't see them, and then both copies said, "You're no Guardian. You're just an anguished spirit, one whose pain gives me all the power I need."

Melody sobbed and ran off, unable to take any more verbal abuse.

The copies turned back into the men and turned back to the Guardians, all five of whom bore looks of pure fury on their faces. Sandy was attacking the wall with all his might, but even the combined strength of all five could not break the wall. The men smirked and melted into the shadows. When they were long gone, the wall disappeared, and the Guardians were left with nothing else to do but try to find the runaway music spirit.

* * *

Melody ran through the familiar streets of Williamsburg, and this was perhaps the only time that she was grateful for her disbelieved-in state, for in her despair, she didn't bother to look up until she had reached her former house, and she was certain that she ran through several people in the process.

She knew that there had always been a key under the mat, but surely Officer Stone would have taken it, wouldn't he have? Unless Laurel had kept it a secret from him and the rest of the police force, wanting to visit her old home in secret?

Fully expecting failure, Melody looked under the mat and nearly shouted for joy when she saw the familiar key. However, the salt that had been rubbed into her wounds still stung beyond imagination, and it soon felt as though her soul was deprived of any joy. She took the key and gently let herself in the house.

The spirit ran to her former room and let loose all the agony and torment contained within her soul at that moment. The sounds pierced all who heard, and for years, the house was avoided, because people believed that the house was haunted by a tormented, and most likely vengeful, spirit.

A gentle knock at her window roused the girl from her tears, and when she looked up, she saw the Sandman floating there, clearly wanting to help her, and to get an explanation from her.

Melody stood and opened the window, allowing the Guardian of Dreams to enter. "I'm sorry I ran off like that, Sandy, but it's just… I can't do this. He was right, I'm no Guardian." Sandy shook his head violently at that statement, the look in his eyes doing all the talking: he though – no, _believed with all his heart_ – that she was a Guardian.

Melody turned away. "I guess I should be getting back to the others, then, huh?" She started out of the door, but she was stopped by a golden whip wrapping itself around her waist. Sandy turned her around to face him and the whip tightened ever so slightly, but it was still gentle.

A grim, humorless smile came to Melody's face. "I'm not leaving until I tell you the truth, am I?" she asked. When Sandy shook his head "no," Melody seemed to collapse to where she was sitting on the floor. She took a deep, stuttering breath, and began.

She told of how the men had intended to rape Laurel first, how she had helped Laurel escape, insisting that the Guardians protect Laurel no matter what happened to Aria, and finally, she told of how the men had pulled a stun gun on her, secured her to her own bed, violated her, and finally shot her.

Melody put her right arm forward and drew back the sleeve, revealing her bruises in all their grotesque glory. She also brought her left hand up to her temple and drew back her thick blond locks, revealing the scar tissue of where the taller man's bullet had ripped its way through her skull.

"Pitch was the first spirit I encountered." Melody confessed. "I didn't have these bruises at first, only the scar on my head. But he said something about my trauma and fear giving him enough power to challenge the Guardians. And then he drew forth these bruises to remind me both of the events leading up to my transformation and our first meeting." She bowed her head, failing to notice the whip being withdrawn.

"I'm no Guardian." She repeated. At this statement, her chin was almost violently yanked up by Sandy and she saw him violently shaking his head, adamantly disagreeing with her. "Sandy, you saw me back there. I froze up." She began to shake, tears once again spilling from her eyes. "I can't do this."

This episode was much worse; it was a full-out mental breakdown. Sandy did nothing more than hold the new immortal until her shakes had finally subsided and her tears stopped. It took the good portion of the night, but Sandy was just as able to send dreams to the children of the world from where he stood as he was on his regular dreamsand cloud.

Finally, Melody was able to stand up under her own power, without Sandy having to help her with a stream of dreamsand. She smiled at the oldest Guardian. "Thanks, Sandy. You're a good friend." Sandy smiled and gave a simple shrug, as if to say, _"I do what I can."_

Melody sighed. "I guess we'd better be getting back to the others now, huh? Are you going to let me go this time?"

Sandy laughed silently for a moment before motioning to the door. _"Ladies first."_

Melody's smile grew slightly brighter than it had ever been before. When they were out in the open air, Sandy formed his dreamsand cloud underneath both of them, and they flew in absolute silence for a while, but Sandman soon pointed to Melody's arm.

"What?" she asked, confused.

Sandy again pointed to her arm before pointing to her head. Melody's confused look didn't fade, so he formed a picture of her pulling back her sleeve in front of the other four.

"I need to tell them when we meet back up with them, don't I?" When Sandy nodded, Melody looked forward. "I guess you're not really giving me a choice in the matter. All right, I'll tell them, but you need to be by my side when I do, otherwise, I don't know if I'm going to be strong enough."

Sandy nodded again, Melody smiled again, and again, it was a brighter smile than before. Perhaps, now that one of the Guardians knew, her soul was beginning to calm.

* * *

_A/N: I have a feeling that I am one of the few authors who makes my OC hate the sleigh. Well, I'm not very good on upside-down roller coasters. Wooden ones, I'm fine on, even ones that have big drops, but when they start going upside-down, I start having problems. I hope you liked this chapter, and I will see you guys as soon as I have chapter 6 written. Oh, and that big space for reviews isn't going to fill itself!_


	7. Chapter 6: More Revelations

_A/N: Okay, I have now seen RotG a grand total of SEVEN times. What is wrong with me? Oh, well. It's a masterpiece, I won't deny that. Anyway, here it is. Melody's dark past is brought to light for all the Guardians to see clearly._

**Disclaimer: I do not own Rise of the Guardians. I also do not own any mentioned or described music unless otherwise indicated in the ending authors note.**

* * *

Chapter 6: More Revelations

The other four had gathered back at the North Pole after failing to find Melody. Sandman guided the cloud of dreamsand through the window of the globe room, bringing the somewhat renegade spirit of music with him, all the Guardians stood up, eagerly waiting for them to land.

"Melody, where were you!" Tooth gently scolded, flying forward and hugging the new immortal in a similar way that a mother would hug a runaway child who had just returned home. "We were all so worried about you!"

Melody stiffened before awkwardly returning Tooth's hug. "I was at my old house." She explained when Tooth let her go. "I'm sorry for running off; I was just overwhelmed by everything that happened. Besides, those copies were kind of rubbing salt into my wounds, both ones received in my past life, and ones received in this life." Sandy shot her an impatient look, as if telling her to go ahead and get it over with.

North spoke before Melody could continue. "We don't expect you to tell us this soon, Melody."

Sandy glared at Melody, as if daring her to even think about taking the out.

Melody caught the look and took a deep breath. "That's very kind of you, but both Sandy and I would rather get this over with sooner, not later." After taking another deep breath, she added, "But I would ask that none of you blame yourselves, for these are the consequences of my choice." When the five nodded, however unsure their nods were, Melody screwed her eyes shut, raised her right arm, and drew back her sleeve, once again bringing her bruises into the light. After the stunned gasps had passed, Melody said, "Take close note of their shape."

There was a moment of silence, and then North murmured, "Handprints."

Melody nodded and dropped her arm, the action causing her sleeve to fall back so that it was once again covering her marks. "I recognized those two men, and Pitch. Those men… Laurel was going to be their first victim. I was the top student in my fencing class, so I made sure they knew that I knew what I was doing with my sword. They said nothing direct, but I knew that if they raped Laurel, I would be forced to watch.

"I hit them hard enough to knock them out momentarily, and that was when I got Laurel out of the house and asked you to protect her no matter what happened to me. The men found me after that, and one of them had a stun gun. When I came to, they already had me where they wanted me. Just before the nightmare started, the shorter of them said, and I quote, 'Oh, relax. We're just going to have some fun'."

Jack gasped. "So that's why…" he breathed.

Melody nodded, looking directly into his eyes. "Yes. That's why I attacked you. I didn't know who you were, didn't know your voice, and the last time someone said that phrase to me… Well, I thought it was going to happen again. When you asked me if I wanted to have fun, all I could see was red. I'm so sorry."

"Apology not required." Jack assured her. "If anything, I should be apologizing to you; I thought you were crazy. Now I know that wasn't the case at all."

"Call it even." Melody said. She pulled her hair back again, revealing the scar from her mortal bullet wound. "See that scar? That's where the taller one's bullet ripped its way through my skull." The music spirit turned around so that she was facing the massive Globe of Belief. "Pitch was the first spirit I encountered. He found me shortly before Jack did. I don't remember exactly what he said, but he did mention that my trauma and fear had given him enough power to challenge the Guardians. I didn't know who he was, so I told him to buzz off." Small bursts of laughter met this last statement, Pitch being told to buzz off by a spirit not even one day old.

"He then said we would meet again and he grabbed my hand. The bruises emerged then, as a reminder of what I had been through." Melody explained. "That's what those copies meant when they said that they were surprised that we had met again so soon. He wanted me to join up with him, but I didn't want to, and now, I want to even less."

The Guardians were silent for a long while before, "Oh, Melody," Tooth breathed.

North stepped forward and gave the girl a comforting embrace, however, Melody was able to playfully squirm out of it fairly quickly; she had already had one mental breakdown and she was not about to have another. "If you need to talk more, we all will listen." North assured her.

Melody nodded. "And I really do appreciate that, and your sympathy about what happened. I'm sorry I let the agents get away though."

"They drove you away." North spoke firmly, but gently. "It was not your fault."

"Besides, they disappeared just before they took that wall down." Bunny explained.

Melody visibly relaxed, comforted by her new family. "Can I go see Laurel? Since those men are still out there, I feel like I need to be close to Laurel at all times. I can stay at my old house during the day and do patrols of the city during the night. I just- I need to make sure that my sister's going to be safe."

"She'd be safe anyway, sheila." Bunny told her, but when the other four Guardians, and Melody, glared at him, he quickly amended, "Howevah, I know exactly why yeh'd be concerned. Go."

"But what if you need our help?" Jack asked.

"I'm sure I could use my music." Melody sounded much more confident now. She brought her violin forward and began to play a piece that sounded a little bit like a fanfare, but also had a sense of urgency to it. Even after hearing only a few measures, the Guardians silently agreed that that would be the signal that Melody would use. "I could send it out using my powers if I come across any agents. Just be ready for any instrument to play, cause I'm not sure that a violin is the best instrument to bring to a battle."

* * *

_A/N: The piece played at the very end is a section of "Calling the Guardians" off of the soundtrack. Love you all. Oh, before I forget, school starts up again tomorrow, so the updates might not be as regular as they've been, but I will still try to update in a timely fashion._


	8. Chapter 7: Haunting, but Protecting

_A/N: Sorry that it took so long for me to update. I started school last week, and it's been murder. I'll try to continue updating on a timely fashion, but it'll be very difficult, since I'm a senior, and in some ways, senior year is worse than junior year. So, please forgive me, but the updates will be a little bit (maybe a lot) slower than they have been. Oh, I think you guys are going to love the ending of this chapter. It's a cliffie, but I think that it's a good cliffie._

**Disclaimer: I do not own Rise of the Guardians or any of the songs mentioned in the story. **

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Chapter 7: Haunting, but Protecting

It was broad daylight when Melody touched down in Williamsburg, so she headed straight for her old house. When she arrived, she was surprised at how deserted it looked. That was probably her fault, she guessed, for going there and just having a mental breakdown. Oh, well, at least that meant that she was in no danger of being caught. She was just about to enter, when she felt a pull coming from the direction of the graveyard. Her mind told her to get settled back in her house and then go visit her sister, but her heart screamed at her that she should stop what she was doing and go see her sister immediately.

Melody chose to follow her heart, and she rushed to the graveyard just in time to see Laurel start kneeling at the place where Aria's body rested.

"I'm back, Aria." Laurel declared. "And boy, do I have news for you! Well, I'll tell you the insignificant news first: I've got a foster home now. Yeah, the Matkins took me in. You remember Annabelle and Carter? They're my new foster siblings. They believe in the Guardians, and I'm so thankful for that. They're helping me keep my belief. I know they're real, and I know that they were there, protecting me on that fateful night, but after seeing what happened to you, I- I think I'm losing my faith in them." Laurel sobbed. "They protected me and this is how I repay them; by forsaking my belief in them!"

"Oh, Laurel, please no!" Melody begged, even though she knew that Laurel couldn't hear. "Keep faith; you still need them!"

"I know what you'd say to that," Laurel continued. "'Oh, Laurel you need to keep believing; they protected you from sharing my fate!' I know they did, big sis, but it's still so hard! After they found your body uncovered and bleeding, I was horrified that you hadn't been saved from those men. But, just for you, I'll try to keep my faith."

Melody breathed a sigh of relief at that statement, and she felt a little more hopeful that, if Laurel kept up her belief in the Guardians, perhaps soon, Laurel would also be able to see her. All she could really do now, though, was hope.

"On an even more exciting note, though: Our house is haunted!" Laurel continued, her voice brightening. Melody was certain that, if she could see Laurel's face, Laurel's eyes would have been as bright as Christmas tree lights. "I don't know if I should go back to the house or not, but I really want to find out if our house is really haunted. I- I want to see if it's your spirit haunting the house."

Melody gasped. Oh, if only Laurel would believe in her, then she could truly interact with her once again! But, as it was, Melody could only offer Laurel some slight comfort. She drew her violin onto her shoulder and began to play a slow song, one that told of sadness, yet of the person overcoming the tribulation. The tune flowed like water, and Melody could almost hear a harp playing along with her. She knew the song was originally written for piano, but hey, there was no one preventing her from playing a violin cover!

As the spirit of music drew out the last note of "River Flows in You," Laurel stood up and glanced around, as if she could hear the song and wondered where it was coming from. However, the mortal saw no one and merely shrugged it off… for the moment.

* * *

Once again, Melody returned to the scene of the crime in torment. To have the fact reconfirmed that Laurel did not believe in her made her anguish return. It was not as bad as it had been after facing the copies of Pitch Black, but it was still enough for a few tears to leak from her eyes.

She walked over to her previous, and very extensive, music collection. She had liked nearly every genre except for extreme screamo (cue shudder), but she had been in possession of nearly a hundred CDs, ranging from old classical music of the great composers Bach and Mozart, to the country style of Taylor Swift, to the enchanting voices of Celtic Woman, even to the torture-chamber type of music favored by Bats For Lashes and Evanescence.

At the moment, her soul felt like it was going through so many torture chambers, so Melody grabbed the Evanescence album _Fallen_ off her shelf, put it in her old CD player, and fast forwarded to track 10. "My Last Breath" started instantly, the guitars seeming to scream along with her soul, and her soul immediately connected with the music. Melody had to smile at the irony: She was the spirit of music, believed that all kinds of music move the soul, and the only music she could really connect with was torture-chamber music!

_Hold on to me now  
You know I can't stay long  
All I want to say was "I love you,  
And I'm not afraid."_

_Can you hear me?  
Can you feel me in your arms?_

_Holding My Last Breath!_

Melody began to wish that she was able to play along instead of only being able to sing along. Suddenly, she felt the violin at her back suddenly begin to extend itself, and the bow at her side disappeared. When she brought the instrument in front of her, she no longer held a violin; now, she held a sleek, white electric guitar, with the outside borders outlined with indigo flames. A small dial allowed her to choose between different uses for the guitar.

"Nice!" Melody commented, struck completely immobile at the discovery of her new powers. Well, she suspected that she had always had them, but she had never accessed them until now.

Melody stood stock still for the nearly the entire remainder of the song, but when the bridge started playing, she was inspired into action. Switching the dial to the musical note symbol, she began to play along with the music, playing the song perfectly, despite never having learned how to play the song on guitar.

_Say goodnight!  
Don't be afraid.  
Calling me, holding me as you fade to black!_

_Holding My Last Breath  
Safe inside myself  
Are all my thoughts of you  
Sweet raptured life, it ends here tonight!_

Melody felt slightly better when she was finished playing. A noise from behind her caught her attention, and when she turned she was startled to find Laurel there. The twelve-year-old seemed to be looking directly at the music spirit, and on her face was a look of excitement and wonder.

"So you like Evanescence, too?" Laurel asked. "That was one of my sister's favorite music groups as well." Melody smiled sadly, and was about to answer when Laurel said, "Please, come out. I just want to get to know you."

Melody's heart sank. Her sister still didn't believe in her. Laurel left her view, but Melody could still hear the twelve-year-old tramping about the house, trying to find the spirit. Oh, if only she knew that the very spirit for which she was looking was right in front of her eyes!

Laurel left the house as the sun started to go down. Melody decided to walk her home and then start her patrol of the city. "Laurel, I wish you knew how much I want to really speak with you again. Please believe. I miss you."

The walk to the Matkins didn't take very long – even though they lived much farther away than the Newels. Melody stopped at the steps and watched as Laurel walked through the door and began chatting with her new foster family. She could hear strains of the conversation through the open windows; Laurel was mostly talking about the fact that her old house was now haunted, and she suspected that the spirit doing the haunting was Aria's. Melody heard Annabelle laugh and say that any spirit was a vengeful spirit, except for the Guardians.

Melody brought her hand to her lips and then placed the same hand on the ground, blessing the house. Other spirits could still enter the house, but it would be a bit of a challenge now, unless the spirit entered with the sole purpose of protecting the residents. Turning away, she slung her guitar over her shoulder and began patrolling the streets.

* * *

The patrol for this night was mostly uneventful, but that was unless a person didn't count the moment when she thought she saw the two men, but they were gone before she had a chance to follow. After that, she had been more on her guard, but nothing else jumped out at her. Mildly satisfied, she headed home when the sun rose.

When she entered her room, she noticed that she had neglected to turn off the CD player before she started her patrol, since she had been taken by surprise by Laurel's intrusion. "Whisper" had just started, and Melody brought her guitar around and began playing.

_Catch me! As I fall.  
Say you're here, and it's all over now.  
Speaking to the atmosphere  
No one's here and I fall into myself._

_This truth drives me  
Into `madness;  
I know I can stop the pain if I will it all away.  
If I will it all away!_

This song was slightly more therapeutic than "My Last Breath" had been, but she still felt unbearable agony ripping its way through her soul. The instrumental bridge made her feel the best she had ever felt since becoming a spirit, and she began rocking out to the guitar, playing it better than she had ever been able to play as a mortal; allowing the torment she constantly felt to fully come through and play for her.

_Don't turn away!  
(Don't give in to the pain!)  
Don't try to hide!  
(When they're screaming your name!)  
Don't close your eyes!  
(God knows what lies behind them!)  
Don't turn out the light!  
(Never sleep, never die!)_

As the last notes faded away, she heard a gasp behind her. Laurel stood there, her hand over her mouth in shock. Melody froze when she realized that Laurel was looking directly at her. The music spirit remained silent, not daring to hope that if she spoke, Laurel would hear. And then Laurel spoke; only three words, but Melody doubted that she three words would ever be more welcome:

"Who are you?"

* * *

_A/N: So what did you think of that cliffie? Evil, or neutral? The songs in this chapter belong to Evanescence and Yimura, with respect going to Lindsey Stirling for doing her violin cover of Yimura's_ "River Flows in You." _Oh, and the design for Melody's electric guitar is the same as Ember's, the music ghost from_ Danny Phantom. _In fact, Ember was my inspiration for Melody.__  
_


	9. Chapter 8: First Believer

_A/N: Okay, I will be unavailable tomorrow, so I decided to go ahead and upload this chapter tonight. And I've got some good news for you, though you could probably guess what it is from the chapter title: This chapter is a happy chapter! Yay! Another cliffhanger, unfortunately (I seem to be addicted to cliffhangers in this story, even more than in my Narnia story), but I will update as soon as I can. _

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Chapter 8: First Believer

Melody was too stunned to answer that simple, three-word question. All she could possibly focus on was the fact that the question was directed at her; Laurel could see her. Well, it didn't really matter that she was too stunned to speak, since Laurel, instead of waiting for an answer, started a whole barrage of questions, firing one question off after the other.

"Are you the spirit who's been haunting my house? How long have you been a spirit? Are you a good spirit? Did you know my sister Aria? What other types of music do you like?"

By now, Melody began to give a stunned laugh. "Slow down! Slow down!" Laurel obligingly stopped rattling off questions and began to look somewhat abashed. Melody was finally able to move, so she walked over to her mortal sister and knelt down in front of her. "One question at a time! First things first, though." The music spirit slowly reached out her hand, with the intent on placing it on Laurel's shoulder. She gasped and pulled her hand away when, instead of passing through, her hand landed solidly on the younger girl's shoulder.

Melody looked up in Laurel's eyes, wonder and joy written on her face. "You believe in me! You – you believe in me!"

Laurel looked extremely confused by this statement. "Of course I-" she broke off when she realized the connotations of that statement and began to look like a kid at Christmas again. "Are you a Guardian?!"

Melody began to look uncomfortable. "You… could say that." At Laurel's silent confusion, Melody elaborated, "I'm Melody, the spirit of music. I've been chosen as a Guardian, but I have not yet taken oath. I just don't think I'm ready. I haven't really been a spirit for very long. You're the first person to believe in me, and I can't even begin to describe how much that means to me."

"You should take oath as soon as possible."

Laurel's quiet statement seemed to be as loud as cannon fire in the room. And she wasn't done yet, either. "I mean it. As soon as we're done talking, you need to go back to the Guardians and tell them that you're ready to take your oath. If you won't do it for yourself, at least do it for my sake."

Melody had been looking down during Laurel's statement, and she remained silent for a while. "You know what, Laurel?" she began, and then she looked up, her eyes shining with tears. "I will. I really will!" She gave a small laugh, but it was slightly choked by a sob. "I had a feeling you would want me to take oath as soon as possible, but I really, truly, and honestly will take oath as soon as we're done here."

"Why did you have that feeling?" Laurel asked, out of polite curiosity.

"I… met your sister, when she died."

"So you do know Aria?" Laurel asked, excited.

Melody decided to draw her sister along for a while before revealing the truth. "Yes. I happened to be in area when those men murdered her. The Guardians are actually looking for those men right now, since they're agents of Pitch Black. Anyway, before she left, Aria and I had a good, long talk. She told me to make sure you were safe no matter what – Oh! And she also wanted me to give something to you."

Melody got up and crossed over to her old jewelry box. She opened it and began searching for the one item that could truly connect her with Laurel no matter the distance, praying that the men hadn't stolen it before they made their escape that night.

Laurel looked worried about having a stranger going through her older sister's jewelry. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"Don't worry, little one." Melody smiled, turning to Laurel. "Aria asked me to do this."

Laurel had stiffened. "I don't allow anyone to call me 'little one' anymore. Not since Aria was murdered."

Melody sobered at that. "I'm sorry. I didn't know." She turned back to the jewelry box and nearly screamed her thanks to the moon when she finally saw the treble clef necklace that she had been looking for. She pulled it out and offered it to Laurel.

Laurel backed away in shock. "But that was Aria's favorite necklace; it was the only one that she never let me wear."

"It's because it was her favorite necklace that she wants you to have it now." Melody explained, continuing to hold out the necklace. "But there's one thing that I need to do personally." The hand holding the treble clef symbol glowed and soon, the necklace glowed too. A song sounded in the air, and Melody vocalized along with it. The glow brightened as the music spirit held the final note, and then faded quickly.

As Melody fastened the necklace around Laurel's neck, she explained, "I've just put some of my essence into this necklace. If you ever need me, rub the necklace, and I'll hear your call and come to help. But please remember, I'm not a genie. Only rub the necklace in times of dire need."

Laurel looked at the treble clef now hanging around her neck and nodded solemnly. "I promise."

Mortal and spirit smiled at each other and then Laurel rushed forward and hugged Melody. "It's weird." She whispered. "I only just met you, but I know that I can trust you with my life; and not just because of the fact that you're a Guardian. I feel like I've known you my entire life."

Melody didn't answer, but, after taking a moment to get over her shock at finally being tangible, she wrapped her arms around her sister. Right now, she wanted nothing more than to confess that she was Aria to Laurel, but she knew how she wanted to prove it to her sister, and now, unfortunately, was not the right time. "Maybe because I know your sister?"

"No, that's not it." Laurel explained, with bewilderment in her voice. "It's like – oh I can't explain it, but you just seem so familiar, even though I know I've never seen you before."

"_That's not entirely true, Laurel." _Melody thought. _"You just have never seen me in this form before._" But, of course, she couldn't say that to Laurel, at least not just yet. So she had to content herself with holding Laurel even tighter. "Come on." She whispered to the shaking mortal. "Your adopted family is probably worried about you. Let's get you back."

Melody walked next to Laurel during the entire walk back to the Matkins' house. "Listen to your foster siblings." Melody encouraged. "If you're losing your faith in the Guardians, Annabelle and Carter can help you regain it. I won't be able to help you if you can't see me."

Laurel looked stunned. "How do you know the names of the Matkin children? And besides, I never mentioned that I'm losing my belief in the Guardians, at least, not to you."

"I was there in the graveyard." Melody confessed. "I heard you telling Aria that the Matkins had taken you in; that Annabelle and Carter still believe in the Guardians, and you're thankful for that because your faith is starting to waver after your sister's death." When Laurel looked astounded, Melody quickly said, "Remember that you thought you heard a violin and harp playing 'River Flows in You'? That was me playing that song. I was there the entire time."

Laurel looked slightly miffed that the music spirit had listened in to a private conversation, but she was also relieved to know where the music had come from. "Even though I feel like I should be furious at you for eavesdropping on my talk with my sister's ghost, I really need to thank you. I really needed to hear a song like that."

"You're welcome." Melody smiled.

For the rest of the walk, Melody and Laurel talked about trivial things, such as Laurel's previous dog, Alkabink; which types of music Laurel liked listening to; how Laurel was using her summer vacation. It took the entire walk for Laurel to finish talking. She had felt that Melody was hiding something, so Laurel hid the fact that she had started in Tai Kwon Do and fencing the very next day after Aria's funeral.

Melody stopped at the bottom of the stairs leading up to the Matkins' front porch. Laurel stopped at the top of the steps. "Are you going to come in?" she asked.

Melody shrugged. "I could if you really wanted me to." She explained. "I was here earlier and I blessed this house. It's going to be extremely hard for any spirit to enter, unless we're given permission, and evil spirits, such as Pitch Black, can't enter at all. Me, I would have no problem entering since I was the one who put up this barrier. However, I don't think I should go in, at least not just yet. Those men who murdered your sister are still out there. And besides…" she turned away, but looked back after a few steps, "I've got an oath to take."

Laurel smiled and went back inside, disappearing from Melody's sight. Melody waited for a few moments, and then she began laughing with relief. "She believes in me!" the music sprite yelled in joy, raising her hands to the sky in celebration. "She believes in me!"

The sleeves of her dress had fallen down to her shoulders when her arms were first raised, and when Melody returned her arms to her proper positions, she gasped at the glimpse she got before the sleeves fell back down. Just to be sure, she drew back her sleeve and took another look. The smile already on her face grew even wider when she saw that the angry purple bruises had faded to a sickly yellow color. It wasn't much of a change, but it was enough to make her happy.

She willed her guitar to change back into a violin, and her bow reappeared at her side. She began playing "Transcendence" with much more fervor than she had ever played it before. She didn't stop until she reached the North Pole.

"What are you doing here, Melody?" North asked. "What's wrong?"

"Did something happen to Laurel?" Tooth asked, noticing the young spirit's tears.

"Yes." Melody admitted, confusing the other Guardians with her smile. "And, North," Melody continued, turning to the Guardian of Wonder, "The question you should be asking is 'What's _right_'." She drew back her sleeve and showed them the state of her bruises. "They've faded, see!" Melody exclaimed, without really giving them a chance to truly notice.

Sandy formed a question mark above his head, asking how they could have faded that much in that short a time.

"Because of Laurel." Melody explained, her eyes shining with happy tears. She looked each of her fellow Guardians in the eye before declaring, "She believes in me!"

Tooth let out an excited squeal and North gave Melody another one of his bear hugs, but this time, she didn't squirm away. However, as soon as the jolly Guardian of Wonder had released her, she was immediately caught up in another hug, this one from Jack, him having gotten over his fear of her when she explained her transformation.

"So, how does it feel to be believed in?" he asked her, and she could hear the smile that he was wearing, even if she hadn't seen it moments before being embraced by North.

"I can't even begin to describe it." She whispered back, happily. "And it's even better knowing that my sister is the first person to believe in me."

After a while, all the Guardians had taken their turn congratulating Melody, North once again turned to the big question: "The agents?"

"I think I saw them last night, but they vanished before I could really get a good look." Melody reported. "It's a safe bet that they're probably still out-" She broke off as she felt a tugging feeling in her soul; a cry for help. She looked back at the Guardians, all joy wiped from her face and replaced with utter horror. "They've found Laurel." She gasped. "We need to get there… now."

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_A/N: Thank you for reading. Hope you liked this chappy. And please remember: Reviews are love!_


	10. Chapter 9: Sister Dear

_A/N: Sorry that it's taken me so long to update, school's been murder. And then I had a trip with CYS (Carolina Youth Symphony) and we got to go up and play at Carnegie Hall on Easter Sunday! It was an amazing trip, not just because of playing at Carnegie (best of the best right there!), but also because we got to see Andrew Lloyd Webber's _"The Phantom of the Opera" **_ON BROADWAY! _**_How freaking awesome is that?! It was a phenominal performance; effects and cast were perfect. Anyway, I worked on this on the bus, and now I give you chapter 9 of _Finding the Way Home. _Enjoy, and remember: Reviews are love!_

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Chapter 9: Sister Dear

Laurel was backed up against an alley wall, whimpering in fear as the two men advanced on her. They grinned at the expression on her face and drank in the scent of her fear, using it to grow stronger. The girl was breathing heavily and frantically rubbing the treble clef around her neck. "Melody, _please_." She whispered. "I need your help, like, _right now._"

Just as one of the men leaned up against her and raised his hand to her body, another voice rang out. "I'm only going to say this once, Pitch: Leave her alone!"

The men whirled around, and Laurel breathed a laugh of relief when she saw Melody there, standing tall, confident, and intimidating. The other five Guardians immediately emerged from a hole behind Melody, all taking their battle stances. "Because if you don't," Melody continued, "I'll make sure that it's the last thing you do for a very long time."

"Melody!" Laurel gasped in relief.

"I'm here, Laurel, as I promised you I would be." Melody reassured her sister, but she still didn't take her eyes off of the agents.

The men hissed. "Guardians." They spat in contempt. Once again, they shifted form so that they took on the image of Pitch Black. However this time, _all _the spirits firmly stood their ground. "And the music spirit is still in your company. I must say, I'm surprised. After you heard what happened to her, especially that she will soon join me because of her agony; I thought you would get rid of her as soon as you could."

"Nice try, Pitch." Melody smirked. "As you probably know by now, Laurel believes in me. And to me, having Laurel's belief alone is worth more than the belief of all the children in the world."

The copies faltered, and the Guardians and Melody made their move. Jack leaped into the air and fired a bolt of lightning ice at the same time that Bunny threw one of his boomerangs. Both the copies dodged, but that was the signal that the Guardians had been waiting for. North's swords flashed, Sandy's whips extended from his hands, and Melody swung her guitar in front of her and began strumming, a confident grin on her face. During this moment of confusion as the battle began, Laurel tucked herself out of the way behind some trash cans at the very corner of the alley. As she watched, she trembled, very relieved that the Guardians had come to help her.

Someone stepped in front of Laurel and she gasped and looked up, only to relax again immediately after when she saw that the someone was Melody, brandishing her guitar. The music spirit turned and smiled down at Laurel. "Don't worry." She whispered in comfort. "We're here." And then she turned back to the battle and struck a chord on her guitar.

A strain of music flew out and intercepted another lightning ice bolt from Jack. The bolt rebounded off her music, and struck one of the copies dead in the face. The copy looked comically dazed for a moment, fell face first onto the ground, and then dissolved into the nightmare sand.

Melody laughed in triumph and Jack grinned at her. "Nice!" he shouted before leaping back into action, staff blazing with its icy light.

Sandy mostly tried to position himself so that he was defending Melody from the remaining copy. His whips flew through the air, always aiming for the copy. However, this copy was faster than the one that had been hit with Jack's ice magic, and every single time, he managed to dodge Sandy's whips by the barest millimeter.

And apparently, taking on Pitch's appearance wasn't the only thing that agents of his were capable of. They were also able to use the nightmare sand that Pitch used. And this copy formed Pitch's scythe out of the sand and began attacking relentlessly. The Guardians started losing ground, and the only ones who were doing any damage were Jack, Sandy, and Melody, since their weapons could attack over a range. After about a minute of fighting and dodging, the copy decided to employ another favorite strategy of Pitch's: sinking into the shadows and letting his opponents search for him in vain.

"Okay, number one, that's cowardly," Melody grumbled, "and number two, that's cheap."

As all of them looked in around in different directions, Laurel suddenly screamed from behind Melody. The five good spirits whipped around to see the Pitch copy tightly gripping Laurel's arm and grinning in that sadistic way that only Pitch Black could manage. He threw Laurel towards the Guardians, and that's when the most horrible thing happened. Sandy stepped forward to catch her, but at the moment when he would have caught her, she passed straight through him. Melody let out a horrified "No!" and quickly stepped forward to intercept her sister, even though she suspected to be as successful in stopping her sister's fall as Sandy had been. But, to their surprise, the music spirit caught the little girl and held her protectively.

"Interesting," the copy murmured. "She doesn't believe in the Guardians, but she does believe in the insignificant music spirit. Well, come to think of it, that's not really as surprising at all."

Melody stood up, growling, but she gently led Laurel to the sidelines. Bunny threw one of his boomerangs, but, this time, the boomerang went straight through the copy, not harming him at all. "You're around someone who doesn't believe in you, Guardians. Your attacks can't hurt me at all."

"No, but I'll bet mine still can!" Melody shouted, running forward and striking a dissonant chord on her guitar. Everyone winced at the sound, especially Melody, but the copy's reaction was the worst. He screamed in pain and began to wither into the human form it had taken when he had raped Aria. Inspired by this reaction, Melody struck the same chord and this time, the agent took on the form of the second, shorter man and promptly fell to the ground. Melody stepped forward and glared at him. "Now, leave my sister _alone!_"

An audible gasp came from Laurel. "_Sister?_"

Melody took a deep breath, never taking her eyes off of the unmoving body of the second agent. "Yes, Laurel." She confessed, her voice terse from the anger she felt towards Pitch, the real Pitch Black, and his agents. "When I was still mortal, I was your sister, Aria Howland. That's why I've been haunting the house; why you trusted me so quickly when you met me in my old bedroom; and why your belief means so much to me." The agent dissolved into nightmare sand, just like the first one had done, and Melody swung her guitar back to its resting place, turned to face her sister, and knelt down to her level. "It's really me; I'm here."

"Prove it." Laurel spat in contempt. "I believe in you, but I'm not going to believe that you were my sister unless you prove it. So; two years ago, Aria and I pulled a prank on a friend, and that prank had consequences for her for the rest of the school year. Who did we prank, what was the prank, and what were the consequences for her?"

Melody grinned and a small burst of laughter escaped her lips. "Two years ago, on Carter Matkins' birthday, we tricked him into doing the scary maze game – the one where the face pops up at the end." Both Laurel and Melody giggled when the music spirit pulled a face similar to the game and silently screamed in jest. Melody continued, "We knew that we would probably end up on the naughty list for doing this to him on his birthday, but we couldn't resist. Carter was the prankster at our school, and we figured that he needed to learn that what goes around comes around. So we video-taped him playing the game and his reaction was so priceless, we sent it in to _America's Funniest_. He was so mad that we tricked him into doing the maze and sent the video in to be shown on national television that, nearly every day for the rest of the school year, he was shoving ice cubes down the back of my shirt. And every time, I freaked out, not because it was so sudden, but because he said that it was a spider."

A sound that was somewhere in between a gasp, a sob, and a laugh came out of Laurel. "It really is you!" She breathed, tears beginning to run down her cheeks. "Oh, Aria!" The little girl flung her arms around her older sister, laughing and sobbing uncontrollably.

"Laurel..." Jack began, but when he tried to place a comforting hand on her shoulder, he passed through her. A look of panic and fear crossed his face, since he had been alone for three hundred years, but Melody gently reached out to him to comfort him. Her eyes told him that he was still believed in by the rest of the children in the world, and Laurel was only having moments of doubt.

"I'm here, Laurel." Melody whispered, and Laurel pulled back to look face-to-face with the music spirit. "We're all here. Me and the Guardians. Please, Laurel. Please believe again. Do you really think I could've done all that fighting by myself?"

"Maybe not." Laurel admitted.

"Exactly." Melody encouraged. "Those agents knew that all of us were here, not just me. You know they're here; you're just scared because of what almost happened to you. That danger's gone for now, Laurel. We'll protect you. But we can't do that if you don't believe." She gently turned Laurel around so that, when Laurel once again believed, she would be facing the five official Guardians. "Please, Laurel. Believe in them again. We need you. Please."

Laurel closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths, telling herself that Melody, her sister, was speaking the truth. When, after a couple of seconds, Laurel opened her eyes again, she gasped and a huge grin crossed her face when the shapes of the five official Guardians began to shimmer into existence. "Guardians!" she declared, ecstatic, "I believe in you again! I believe!" And the flickering images solidified into the actual Guardians. Laurel jumped slightly in shock, but she soon gained enough courage to step forward and prove her belief. Jack bravely volunteered and stepped forward to meet Laurel in the middle. The girl's hand trembled in anticipation as she raised it, but she was able to firmly grasp the frost spirit's arm and, at that, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Laurel laughed and even went so far as to embrace Jack, a gesture which he eagerly returned, happy that her belief in the Guardians was restored.

North stepped forward when Laurel released Jack; the Guardian of Wonder choosing to administer yet another one of his famous bear hugs to the twelve-year-old. "Laurel, we are sorry." He whispered.

Laurel looked up at him, confused. "Sorry for what?"

Melody gave an exasperated sigh. "Don't start that again, North." She scolded. "Don't any of you start that again."

"Start what again?" Laurel asked.

"They're beating themselves up over what happened on... that night." Melody explained.

"Is our job to protect the children." North reasoned. "Melody, as Aria, you were still child. We neglected our duty to protect you."

"And I asked you to protect Laurel here." The music spirit countered without missing a beat. Laurel had, by this time, managed to squirm free of North and back up so that she was once again standing next to her sister. Melody wrapped her arm around Laurel's shoulder, but otherwise continued addressing the Guardians. "I knew full well that I would be raped and/or murdered that night, and I made the decision to do everything that I could to make sure she would be safe. And if that included asking you to protect her no matter what happened to me, then I would be willing to pay that price. And to be honest, I sort of drew them to my location that night just to buy Laurel some more time." This statement made Laurel cling even tighter to Melody. "So all of you can stop blaming yourselves."

Tooth flitted forward and placed one of her tiny hands on Melody's shoulder, the other on Laurel's; her eyes searching the other two's eyes for any sign of blame directed at the Guardians, despite what they said. However, true to their words, both the new spirit and her still-mortal sister accepted the consequences of their choices and neither laid any of the blame on any of the Guardians. The fairy smiled in acceptance and wrapped her arms around Melody and Laurel, finally forgiving herself for something that she was never blamed for. Soon, all the Guardians joined in, finally acknowledging the fact that Melody and Laurel accepted what had happened that night as the consequences of their own choices.

After a few seconds of reconciliation, everyone separated again and the Guardians decided that they should go off and patrol for the real Pitch, giving Laurel her well-needed reunion with her sister. The two girls took a few moments to simply enjoy each other's presence before Laurel asked, "Melody, why didn't you tell me that you were Aria when I met you in your old bedroom?"

Melody laughed sheepishly. "I was kind of having a little bit of a joke with you; I wanted to see how long it would take for you to figure it out that Aria your sister and Melody the music spirit were really the same person."

Laurel grinned. "You never change, do you?"

"Laurel? Where are you?" Two new voices broke the air and Laurel sighed.

"That'll be Annabelle and Carter." She explained. Reluctantly breaking away from her sister, Laurel moved to the entrance of the alleyway. "I'm here you two. I'm fine."

The two Matkins children burst into the alleyway, relieved smiles on their faces. "We were so worried about you, Laurel!" Annabelle exclaimed; both she and Carter throwing their arms around their foster sister. "Those men could have found you!"

"They did." Laurel informed them. "But they weren't able to do anything."

"How did you manage to fight them off?" Carter asked. "I don't think you'd be strong enough, given the descriptions you gave us when you first came to live with our family."

"I didn't fight them." Laurel said, and then started laughing at the astonished looks that appeared on Annabelle and Carter's faces. "The Guardians saved me. Melody enchanted this necklace so that she can feel when I need help and, then she'll come and help. When those men cornered me, I rubbed the necklace and the Guardians came and fought them off."

"Melody?" Annabelle asked. "I haven't heard of her."

Laurel shrugged. "She hasn't been a spirit very long. Actually, as far as I know, I'm the only one who believes in her." Laurel stole a glance at the music spirit out of the corner of her eye and grinned. "She's still here, by the way. In case you want to believe and see her."

Annabelle closed her eyes, and when she opened them, she gasped when she saw the music spirit standing just behind Laurel, and a gasp from Carter two seconds later revealed that he, too, now believed in Melody. "So are you the spirit this little knucklehead here said that she saw in her old house?" Annabelle asked. "And while we're at it, why were you haunting her house in the first place?"

Melody laughed, and the sound warmed the hearts of the three children standing there. She hooked a protective arm around Laurel's shoulder saying, "That I am. And the reason I'm 'haunting her house,' as you say, is because in life, I was the big sister of this little knucklehead here." When she called Laurel a knucklehead, Melody began to give Laurel a noogie, but she twisted away from her older sister's hand, both girls giggling wildly as Laurel attempted to smooth out her hair. When they finally managed to get their giggles under control, they turned back to face Annabelle and Carter, only to burst out laughing again at the gaping mouths of the Matkins children.

"You – you were Aria?" Annabelle asked, awed and horrified at the same time; horrified because she remembered what Laurel had told them what had happened to Aria on that night, but she was awed seeing her best friend as a spirit, a Guardian.

"I was." Melody admitted. "But I'm not Aria anymore; she did die that night. I'm Melody now." She walked forward and hugged Annabelle and Carter. "It's good to see you guys again. Thank you for taking Laurel in after that night."

Carter tickled the back of her neck, whispering, "Spider!"

Melody jumped and all of the kids, especially Carter, laughed. "You're still mad about that maze?" Melody asked him, incredulous. "You've already gotten me back a million times over, with those ice cubes from the lunchroom being shoved down the back of my shirt."

A light caught their attention, and when all of them looked up, they saw a single streak of blue lightning shooting up from the ground. "That'll be Jack." Melody deducted. "He must have found the entrance to Pitch's lair. And it's almost night." She turned back to her sister and the Matkins children, kneeling down to their levels. "Listen, this is very important," she instructed, urgency coloring her voice. "I need you all to go home, immediately. Don't take any detours and keep out of the shadows; imagine that every shadow is one of the Vashta Nerada."

"Ari-aaa." Laurel groaned. "I just got you back; don't go all _Doctor Who_ nerd on me!"

"Well I had to use an analogy you'll recognize." Melody defended herself. "Anyway, it's almost night, and this is when Pitch becomes more powerful. He can use the shadows, so make sure to stay away from shadows. Just go home, go into one of your bedrooms, all three of you, huddle together and tell yourselves that all of us are real; that'll make us more powerful. And the most important instruction I have for you: Don't fall asleep! If you fall asleep, Pitch could attack you with his Nightmares, and that'll weaken us Guardians. Got all that?"

"Go home, stay out of the shadows, tell ourselves that the Guardians are real, and don't fall asleep. Got it." Carter reviewed her instructions.

Melody nodded. "Good." The kids ran off and Melody watched them leave as long as she could before turning back, bringing her guitar around and playing a few notes to carry her to where she had seen Jack's signal coming from.

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_A/N: I'm hoping most of you are Whovians and understood that reference. If not, tough, 'cause I'm not changing it. I hope you liked this chapter, and I will hopefully have the next chapter up before summer, but keep in mind, I'm under a lot of pressure with graduation coming up in about two months and searching for a job._


	11. Chapter 10: Ticking Time Bomb

**A/N: Sorry that this chapter is a lot shorter than my usual chapter length. I've been really busy lately, what with graduation and everything that happened at the end of last month, so I was just ready to be done with this chapter. Remember: Reviews are love!**

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Chapter 10: Ticking Time Bomb

Melody was the last to arrive at the place where Jack had signaled, which was in the deepest part of the woods on the outskirts of Williamsburg. The Guardians were all gathered around a tunnel in the ground; the opening covered by a broken down, rotting bed. All of them looked like they might have been waiting for her for a while by now. "What gives, slowpoke?" North joked with her.

She rolled her eyes before grinning. "Annabelle and Carter, Laurel's foster siblings, found us. Three believers total now." Jack gave her an incredulous look; obviously he was a bit annoyed by the fact that she had been a spirit for about a week and already had believers while he had been alone for nearly three centuries. Tooth, who was hovering next to him, gave him a look that told him to keep quiet. Ignoring their silent conversation, Melody continued, "I was talking with them when I got your signal, Jack. I had to give them instructions for when they headed back. I don't want them to be caught by Pitch." She sighed, looking down into the tunnel, focusing in on the task at hand. "I take it that this is the entrance to Pitch's lair?"

"Yep." Bunny confirmed. "The frostbite 'ere says this is exactly what the entrance he ran into a few months ago looked like." He and all the other official Guardians except for Sandy and Melody looked sheepish; however, Jack began to look ashamed. "Anyway," Bunny continued after a moment's silence, "this is what we're looking for. Under a bed, how predictable. He says he's tired of hiding under beds, but the entrance says otherwise." This quip got a bit of a laugh from the others, but they were all nervous about the battle that awaited them, especially Melody and Jack, since they knew that Pitch most likely held an even more serious grudge against them.

Jack suddenly bent over, clutching his staff and gasping for air. Beads of sweat began to run down his face, multiplying every second.

"Jack!" Tooth exclaimed, bolting over and trying to support him. "What's wrong?"

"The warm air!" Jack panted. "I've used up too much of my winter energy. Since it's almost summer, that means I'm getting weaker."

"Great." Melody growled. "Practically one down and the battle hasn't even commenced yet."

"I can still fight!" Jack defended himself. "Since the air's slightly cooler at night during this time of year, I can draw energy from that. If it was any closer to summer, then I'd be in trouble, but since it's only early May, I can still use the remaining cold air to strengthen myself again. Besides, the air's probably cooler underground."

"Enough." North grumbled. "Is time to face Pitch; we must concentrate." He turned to the youngest spirit. "Melody, are you prepared for fight?"

Another grin spread across Melody's face, but this one was more threatening. She began strumming some soft, yet warning notes on her guitar. "Bring it on."

Pitch was clearly expecting them. "So," he said, clasping his long, bony hands in front of him and giving the group his signature dark smirk, "you have once again brought the music spirit to me. And I expect that you will once again fight for her like you have in previous times with my two agents. Honestly, I think that it really would be easier if you simply left now and allowed me to start training her in the ways of darkness and fear in peace."

"Fat chance of any of that happening," said music spirit declared ferociously. She drew back her sleeve and raised her arm, showing him that the bruises had faded. "You brought these back as a reminder of my trauma. Well, I'm moving on, since I'm believed in now, so you really don't scare me anymore. I'm not joining up with you anytime soon. And can you please stop calling me 'the music spirit'? Seriously, I have a name, and I don't think that Melody is all that hard of a name to remember."

If it was possible, Pitch's grin widened even further. "You think you won't join me?" he asked. "I think my evidence says differently."

The sounds of struggling were heard from the cave ceiling, and all five benevolent spirits glanced up. "Laurel!" Melody shrieked, horrified at the sight of her sister – and her friends – being drawn through the roof from above and held hostage as leverage. Melody faced Pitch once again, a snarl on her lips and murder in her eyes. "You've just made the biggest mistake of your immortal life!"

And she leaped forward in attack.

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**A/N: I think I've set a new record for how many cliffhangers I have in a single story.**


	12. Chapter 11: The Battle

**A/N: Sorry thatit took me so long to update this story, there's really no excuse. Anyway, here's the moment that you've all been waiting for" The big battle!**

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Chapter 11: The Battle

The Nightmare King didn't even flinch as the enraged music spirit began her attack, nor did he try to retaliate or even retaliate. Quite the contrary, he merely side-stepped her, the grin shifting into a look of only slightly amused boredom at the ineffectiveness of her attack as she flew past him. "Is that really the best that you've got?" he taunted her; eliciting another growl from Melody before she once again started to try to attack. This time; sending chords at him nonstop and dodging around, just in case Pitch should decide to send a stream of nightmare sand her way.

"Melody, stop this!" North scolded.

"You're doing exactly what he wants you to do!" Jack shouted to her, noticing Pitch's self-satisfied smirk.

Melody was not convinced. "I don't think you realize," she hissed, "but every single moment of my life as Melody has been spent making sure that my sister was safe from Pitch, and if anyone thinks that I'm about to let my efforts be wasted after all this time, then you don't know me at all!"

She leaped again, and this time, Pitch did throw his black sand – not at Melody herself, as everyone suspected, but at the place where Melody would land, given her current trajectory. As soon as she landed, the sand clung to her feet, wound up her legs and snagged her arms, successfully rendering her immobile. "Pathetic," he sneered, throwing more sand at her.

This sand was not designed to cause physical damage, no, instead it went straight for Melody's eyes. She shrieked in agony and closed her eyes in an attempt to ward off the assault of sand, struggling to free herself all the while. Her efforts were in vain, as the sand holding her down wouldn't give at all, and the sand Pitch had just thrown at her wormed its way under her closed lids.

"Aria!" Laurel shrieked in horror. She and her two foster siblings attempted to struggle out of their bonds, but they were too strong. Jack leaped up and began to freeze the sand, but the warmth of oncoming summer made it more difficult for him to work his magic. While he tried to work, the sand that was assaulting Melody fully worked its way underneath her eyelids, and after a moment, everyone realized that the sand wasn't going into her eyes – it was going into her brain! When her eyes opened, they weren't the warm amber that they had always been, but a deep purple, almost black, and tendrils of nightmare sand swirled around her head.

She growled at Jack and aimed an attack at him. "Leave my sister alone!" But before she could fire, she gasped and doubled over in pain. "No – Get out of my head, Pitch!" Said evil spirit laughed quietly as she clutched at and shook her head, attempting to break his hold over her.

All of the Guardians, and the three children, were horrified when they realized exactly what Pitch had done to Melody. Sandy quickly threw some of his dreamsand at her, but one of her hands, also covered in the nightmare sand, shot up and swatted the golden sand away. She looked at her hand, terrified of what she had just done, but that wasn't the worst. As soon as she looked at it, the black sand swirling around her hand began to bring her hand down to her guitar, controlling her much like she was a puppet. Oh, she resisted, she resisted it with all her might, but she was too young to be able glanced to resist such a direct assault on her mind.

Jack, having freed Laurel, Annabelle, and Carter and gotten them safely to the ground, fired one of his ice bolts at Pitch, hoping it would distract him enough so that Sandy could free Melody from the nightmare king's control. Pitch's hands came up, deflecting the boy's attack. Jack struggled to keep up the assault, and Sandy flicked one of his whips around the stream of ice, strengthening it with Pitch's main weakness. At last, the attack landed and Pitch was thrown back. The rest of the Guardians leaped into battle, distracting Pitch enough so that he couldn't do anything more to Melody, but not enough for him to free her from his grasp. The music spirit gasped and crumpled to the ground, her guitar thrown aside.

"Aria!" Laurel, Annabelle, and Carter all exclaimed as they rushed to her aid. Melody drew herself up onto her hands and knees and gazed at the mortal trio, tears in her purple eyes.

"Get away from me," she whispered. "I'm too dangerous now. He might not be making me do anything right at this moment, but I'm still under his control."

Aria, come on, you're strong, you can fight this." Laurel encouraged.

"I'm sorry, Laurel." Melody gasped, closing her eyes as Pitch made another mental assault. "He's too strong. Even with the Guardians attacking him, he's still strong enough to suppress my mind, even though he can't make me do anything."

Laurel growled. "Okay, that's it!" She stood up, and when the Boogeyman was thrown in her direction, she surprised him with a roundhouse kick to the face! Melody gasped, Pitch's hold on her momentarily broken due to his surprise, and Sandy chose that moment to snap his whips over her head, scattering dreamsand over her and freeing her mind permanently from Pitch's grasp. She leaped to her feet, reveling in her returned freedom, the black sand fleeing from her mind and body at the onslaught of dreamsand. She gracefully leaped over to where her guitar had fallen and picked it up, marveling at how resilient it was – not a single scratch or dent.

"When did you learn how to do a roundhouse kick, Laurel?" Melody asked as she transformed her guitar back into a violin.

Laurel shrugged. "I... kinda started taking Tai Kwon Do after that night. Figured I might want to learn how to defend myself. I'm already a yellow belt."

"Anything else that I should know?" Melody asked, checking the tune on her violin and grinning when it was still in perfect tune.

"I started fencing as well and I'm already top in my class."

"Nice!" Melody grinned, shaking back her hair and bringing her violin onto her shoulder. Instead of joining her fellow Guardians in battle, Melody instead played from the sidelines and not only did her music do some damage to Pitch, but it also helped to invigorate the other Guardians, tipping the battle in their favor. By the time the last note was struck, Pitch was a whimpering mess on the floor of the cave. Melody swung her violin back onto her back, "sheathed" her bow, and walked over to her fellow spirits.

"Nice to have you back, Melody!" North cheered as she joined them.

"Thanks, North. Wonderful to be back." Melody declared. Sandy placed his hand on her arm and she turned to him, grinning in thanks, her once again amber eyes aglow with delight. "I'm fine, Sandy. Thank you." She turned back to Pitch, all traces of her grin gone and her eyes as hard as steel. "So what should we do with this one?" she asked.

"Just leave him," Tooth suggested, trying to take pity on him. "He's probably learned his lesson this time."

"'Sides," Bunny contributed. "He's weak now. Not a threat."

"That may be true, kangaroo." Jack laughed, causing Bunny to twitch in annoyance. All joking then drained from him, the look on his face as cold as the ice which he controlled, as he said, "But let's just be sure..." The Guardian of Fun leveled his staff and fired a steady stream of ice at the nightmare king, firmly encasing him in a block of ice. "That ought to hold him for a few decades," he stated, turning around once he made certain that the ice was thick enough. "Now, let's get out of here."

"Buckle up," Bunny smirked, thumping his foot against the ground. Everyone except Jack yelped in surprise as one of the Pooka's tunnels opened up underneath their feet. For a few moments, they were all tumbling around as they slid, eventually getting tossed back up onto solid ground, just outside the entrance to the lair that they had just come from. Mortals and immortals both were laughing, relieved that Pitch had been soundly defeated once again, and that Melody was freed from his control. Said music spirit looked down at her arms and smiled so widely that she thought she would pull a muscle when she saw that her bruises were completely gone. She quickly ran a hand through her hair and gasped in joy when she felt that her scar from the fatal bullet was also gone.

North's hand on her shoulder startled her slightly, but she turned to her companions with a smile on her face.

"How you feeling, Melody?" the Guardian of Wonder asked.

The youngest immortal took a few deep breaths, basking in the light and comfort of the moon, before grinning once again. "I feel fantastic," she declared.

The Russian stepped back, drew a snow globe out of his robes, shook it, and threw it on the ground, opening a portal. Several yetis stepped out, one carrying an old, worn, leather-bound book, the cover of which was emblazoned with a large "G" encased in a crystal. "It is high time you take oath," he told her, opening the book.

Melody's breath caught in her throat. "But – but I'm-"

"You're ready." Laurel told her. When her older sister looked at her, Laurel repeated herself. "You're ready, Melody. I know you are."

Hearing her sister call her by her spirit name for the first time convinced Melody. "Well, then. If my sister thinks that I'm ready..." She turned back to face North and nodded.

"Will you, Melody, vow to protect the children of the world? To guard them with your life; their hopes, their wishes, and their dreams, for they are all that we have, all that we are, and all that we will ever be?"

Melody paused and looked to her sister and best friends, all of whom were grinning proudly at her. She gave them her own confident grin before turning back to North, her smiled widening even further. "I swear that I will," she vowed.

North smiled back and declared, "Then congratulations, Melody, for you are, now and forevermore, a Guardian."

A joyous squeal from Laurel was the new Guardian's only warning before she was knocked sideways by her sister cannonballing into her in celebration. "Woah, Laurel, careful!" she joked, ruffling her sister's hair.

There was a minor celebration, mostly of congratulations to Melody, in the clearing before the children decided that they had stayed up way too late, even though they doubted they would be able to sleep, with all the memories of the excitement of that night. Melody and Sandy gently guided them back to the Matkins' home, and the Guardian of Dreams threw some of his dreamsand onto the mortals.

As the two headed back to the North Pole to meet back up with the others for the full celebration, Melody turned and smiled at Sandy. "Thanks for being there for me when I needed you, Sandy," she thanked him, and he hugged her. "You're a good friend."

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**A/N: Oh my goodness! Is this true? There's no cliffhanger? Yes it is true, I've actually managed to end a chapter in this story on a solid note (no pun intended)! When Melody joins the battle from the sidelines, you can either play "Sandman Returns" from the RoTG soundtrack, or "He's a Pirate" from the POTC soundtrack.**


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